Someone isn't happy!
I was at a grocery store yesterday and as I was heading back to my car I saw this poor creature hanging his head in disgust. He was clearly bummed-out about the rain….just look at him!
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKIN AT? YOU GOT A PROBLEM WIT DAT?
Warren Etheredge
A series of conversations on Body, Mind, Spirit, Nature and Medicine - Feb. 8
Bastyr University is proud to host a series of conversations examining the intersections of science, spirituality and medicine. The events are presented by the Bastyr University Center for Spirituality, Science and Medicine and will be moderated by Warren Etheredge of The Warren Report.
Where: Bastyr University Chapel, 14500 Juanita Dr. N.E., Kenmore, WA 98028
When: Musical conversation begins at 6:30 p.m.
Moderated conversation is 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Advance Tickets: $15/night, $40 for series
At the Door: $20
Students: $10/night, $25 for series
Dine in Bastyr’s award-winning, vegetarian cafeteria before the conversation. Open until 6:30 before the event.
When: Monday, February 8, 2010
With: Rabbi Ted Falcon, PhD, Terrill Gibson, PhD, and Leanna Standish, ND, PhD, LAc
Music: By Thomas Arthur
Register online for this lecture.
Our 1st Home circa 1990 in Shoreline, WA
My wife and I have a confession to make: We bought our first home because there was a raspberry patch in the back yard. Yup. That’s what sold us on the place! We were looking for a house with room for a garden and when we ate some of those sweet, ripe berries we were hooked. When we think back on it, we realize that we should have spent more time looking at the house itself because….well, we have 16 years of “home project” stories to share with you if you ever want to hear them.
It’s a classic story. We had been looking at homes in 1989 which was a tough time for a young couple to be buying their first house. Prices were rising, interest rates weren’t all that great (our first mortgage was at 10.25%) and a huge number of homes were being purchased by Californians who saw good values in Puget Sound. We had looked at a huge number of homes with our VERY PATIENT real estate agent and were losing patience as we kept getting beaten out of sales left and right. Luckily, our agent found a home that wasn’t yet listed and a contractor who was anxious to make a deal. Well, we ended up writing our offer on the hood of a car in the parking lot of the Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle on a warm July evening. We were excited and really, really scared!
We lived in our little house (barely 800 square feet) for 16 years. There was hardly one square inch of the place that we didn’t alter, remodel, tweak or paint. When it came to the yard Virginia was the “Flower Lady” and I was the “Vegetable Guy.” Necessity forced me to learn all about the challenges of owing an old home. Sometimes this was not very fun but today, as a real estate agent, the experiences of fixing that little house have made me a better advocate for my clients. I still can’t fix a leaking faucet!
The truth is, WE REALLY LOVED OUR HOUSE. Several of our cats were born, grew-up and died at that house. We entertained and frolicked there. It was a wonderful little universe that we made our own for many, many years. That’s why, when I drove through the old neighborhood on the way home from an appointment today, I was shocked to see a “For Sale” sign in front of our first house. A wave of intense emotion literally gripped me as I pulled into the driveway and saw the old house all “prettied-up” for potential buyers:
Manicured and "prettied-up" for sale!
When I drove up to the house, I discovered it was vacant. I have to tell you, I really struggled to get the key and go into our old house. I had not been in the home since we sold it and moved here to Kenmore in 2005 and I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel walking into a place where my wife and I had lived for so long…………..
As it turned out, I was surprised to find that the home was almost the same as we left it 5 years ago. I was also overcome with a sense that Virginia and I had been good stewards of this little house as had the last owner. We really exerted a lot of hard work to make the house a better place when we lived there and as I write these words I’m proud that it’s going to be another lucky family’s home. It really is a cute little place.
When I got home today to share my experience and pictures with my wife she was very emotional. After all, we were in our 20’s when we bought the house and we became “real adults” living there with our crazy cats. It was a time in our lives when we learned how to deal with many of the challenges life throws at us. Most importantly, we share some wonderful memories of good times and creating a life together in that little house. I hope the new owners find as much joy there as we did.
My birthday falls on April 3rd. I had just turned 9 years old when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, TN on April 4th, 1968. I can still remember, even as a boy, the powerful feeling that washed over me. I remember thinking,”There’s something terribly wrong with us, with our country, with the war and with the hatred.” At that time my family and I were living in north central Texas. We lived close to Sheppard Air Force Base, the Vietnam war was turning savage and racial tensions were flaring all over the country. There was a lot that was “raging” at that time. And let me be blunt, there were a lot of hard-core racists in the town where I lived. Even though Texas isn’t considered the “deep south” there was, at that time, plenty of bigotry to go around. It was open and it was nasty. I’ve always felt uncomfortable thinking about those days.
As I’ve grown into an adult, I have developed my own opinion (right or wrong) about the significance of Martin Luther King Jr. and the meaning of who we are as a people. Indeed, 40 years have brought many changes to “race” in America. I think it’s fair to say (and I’ve listened to a lot of friends, scholars, leaders, journalists and activists of all stripes) that some things have gotten better since those dark days in the 60’s. It’s also obvious that there are still huge inequalities with regard to education, incarceration and a myriad of other problems. For a number of years I was beginning to believe that, as I heard on a radio conversation today, America was on the brink of becoming “post-racial.” Clearly, the demographics show that we are quickly becoming “multi-ethnic.” I believe this couldn’t happen fast enough. To me it makes sense. In an imperfect world, America seemed to be on the right track.
But then, President Obama was elected last year and something truly evil reared its ugly head. It started with the “birthers” who claim that Mr. Obama wasn’t born in America. Then it was outrage and fear that his middle name is “Muslim.” Then, the “tea baggers” (who claim to be a “take your country back” movement) began to have rallies that were far more than anti-tax/anti-political barbecues. No, many of these vocal groups have mixed their populism with their racism. It’s as if being anti-tax means you have a hall pass to be a racist jerk. And then, of course, there is Glenn Beck (the very definition of cry-baby-whitie) who felt justified in labelling the President “a racist.”
Below is a picture of Dale Robertson, a self proclaimed “originator and organizer” of the Tea Bag movement. Since this is a G-Rated blog, I’ve edited the photo. I think you’ll get the point:
Dale Robertson at a Tea Bag rally on Feburary 27, 2009
OF COURSE, numerous Tea Bag organizations have distanced themselves from Mr. Robertson knowing full-well that his display (what’s up with the shirt?) probably does represent what they truly believe. If you spend a little time looking over photos and film of many Tea Bag rallies you’ll notice he’s not a lone example. Lest I forget, allow me to point out that the original Boston Tea Party was not an anti-government act. The colonists were rejecting the authority of the British crown to levy taxes.
In an article entitled “Turning King’s Dream into a Nightmare” the journalist and cultural commentator Chris Hedges has some brutally critical things to say about the way in which the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. has been misappropriated:
“King’s words have been appropriated by the people who rejected him in the 1960s,” said Professor James Cone, who teaches at Union Theological Seminary in New York and who wrote the book “Martin & Malcolm & America.” “So by making his birthday a national holiday, everybody claims him, even though they opposed him while he was alive.”
Hedges goes on to say that King, whose background was solidly middle-class was, toward the end of his life, influenced by the thinking of Malcolm X, whose background reflects what we would still recognize today as poor, tough and definitely NOT privileged. Hedges writes:
“We pretend there is equality and equal opportunity while ignoring the institutional and economic racism that infects our inner cities and fills our prisons, where a staggering one in nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34 are incarcerated. There are more African-American men behind bars than in college. “The cell block has replaced the auction block,” the poet Yusef Komunyakaa writes.”
I believe it’s really important for us to acknowledge that we have become extremely lazy when it comes to the “American Dream.” It sure sounds good, but in the last year it’s plain as day that, fundamentally, we are a deeply divided and racist society. The election of a mixed-race president has only fuelled the anger, fear and bigotry of what appears to be a large number of Americans. I have relatives who say things about the President that are crass and hateful beyond belief, and it makes me wonder if perhaps we have forgotten what basic decency and compassion are about.
In the end, Mr. Robertson has a right to express his maladjusted opinions. The problem is, the voices of many like him have become very loud recently and I’m afraid Americans are ignoring the Dream of Martin Luther King Jr.. Mr. Robertson’s strategy is easy. Just get up in the morning, dawn an ugly shirt and stand in public with a sign full of racial epithets. Our job, yours and mine, is to challenge his brand of stupidity, hatred and bigotry. We have a tougher job, but in the end, it’s the right thing to do.
If you wish to give money to relief agencies, be very careful that they are legitimate. Below I have provided lists of well-know agencies:
The Red Cross says as many as three million people are affected by the earthquake in Haiti. It’s the strongest to hit the country in 200 years. Here’s a list of relief organizations, if you want to help.
AMERICAN RED CROSS
Text “HAITI” to “90999″ to make a $10 donation.
2025 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
(800) REDCROSS (733-2767)
AMERICARES
88 Hamilton Avenue
Stamford, Conn. 06902
(800) 486-4357
MERCY CORPS
Dept. W
P.O. Box 2669
Portland, Ore., 97208-2669
(888) 256-1900
OXFAM AMERICA
226 Causeway St., 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02114-2206
(800) 77-OXFAM (776-9326)
THE SALVATION ARMY
615 Slaters Lane
P.O. Box 269
Alexandria, VA 22313
SAVE THE CHILDREN
Haiti Earthquake Children in Emergency Fund
54 Wilton Road
Westport, Conn. 06880
(800) 728-3843
WORLD VISION
Haiti Earthquake Relief
P.O. Box 9716
Federal Way, Wash. 98063-9716
(888) 511-6548
CARE
151 Ellis Street
Atlanta, Ga. 30303
(800) 521-CARE (521-2273)
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS USA/MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES (MSF)
333 7th Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10001-5004
(888) 392-0392
INTERNATIONAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHARITIES
P.O. Box 630225
Baltimore, Md. 21263-0225
(877) 803-4622
U.S. FUND FOR UNICEF
125 Maiden Lane
New York, N.Y. 10038
(800) FOR-KIDS (367-5437)
PARTNERS IN HEALTH
P.O. Box 845578
Boston, MA 02284-5578
(617) 432-5256
Did you know that you can develop and cultivate imagination? Did you also know that without imagination there is no creativity or innovation?
This is the subject of the fascinating book, “imagination first” written by Eric Liu, a local writer and lecturer on leadership at the University of Washington Evans School of Public Affairs. In the book, he provides 28 “practices” to help us activate our imaginations and suggests that if we learn to approach problems and challenges by activating our imagination first, a whole new world of possibility is at our finger tips.
I highly recommend you read this wonderful book. For more information visit the “imagination first” website. You can also listen to an interview with the author which was broadcast on KUOW, our local NPR affiliate.
One of my fondest memories of being a boy in Texas (in the 1960’s) was going to a tiny theater in the little town of Burkburnett. I can still remember watching the first James Bond movies there, which were thrilling to me. “My name is Bond, James Bond.” Over the years I’ve acquired a taste for a huge variety of film genres. I particularly like hard-hitting dramas and, yes, I love good science fiction. I also enjoy watching foreign films, especially Italian and Iranian movies.
This is the time of year when all of the “best of” lists come out and we get to hear the opinions of all the critics and experts. I thought it would be fun to make up my own list of top films of this last decade. As a general rule, I’m like you: I watch a lot of movies that are big box office hits but I also have a taste for “alternative” movies as well. As a general rule I find the website called metacritic.com to be an excellent resource in discovering what’s good and bad out there. If you want to see a comprehensive run-down of metacritic’s film pics, just click on the picture below:
Click on this picture to view a list of the top features of the decade!
To me, a good movie is like reading a Shakespearean play or a classic novel: One can go back to it a hundred times and discover something new….or capture a new insight. Sometimes I drive my wife crazy, because I can watch some films over and over again and they still feel fresh! So, I’d like to share with you my favorite movies of the past decade. This list doesn’t include reviews because I could write for days and never review them all completely. Also, there are quite a few films that deserve to be here. Perhaps one of these days I’ll review them individually. For now, I hope you’ll get a sense of my taste in movies:
One of the most disturbing and powerful documentaries ever!
Darwin’s Nightmare
A Lot of Healthy Food Comes During Cold Weather
Thanksgiving is a holiday that celebrates food in a big way: Turkeys are big birds, the flavours and aromas from the kitchen are pungent and bold. The flavours of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner are deep and rich and memorable. For many people, turkey is one of the most exotic “meats” they eat all year. That’s why we Americans spend so much time and effort putting together this quintessential American feast. It’s no surprise that many of the foods traditionally used are cold-weather crops: potatoes (regular and sweet), squash, cranberries, brussel sprouts, rich pumpkin and fruit pies. What’s so nice is that all of these products are easily found right here in the Northwest. It’s time to reflect on just how lucky we are to live in a fertile part of the U.S. that produces so many good things to eat.
All of the items we received in our organic food box this week would easily integrate into your Thanksgiving dinner: parsnips, rutabagas, a mixture of potatoes (red, purple, fingerling), a HUGE head of cabbage (the cabbage in the picture must weigh 5lbs!), winter greens, the Delicata Winter squash and the pears and apples! All you need is the turkey, dressing and good company!
Click the picture to view my first Kenmore Undressed blog post
When I began blogging in April, 2008 I was convinced that having a presence on the Internet, in the form of a Blog, would allow me to reach out to the public and help build my Real Estate Business. At that time, it was obvious that a huge sea change had occurred in the real estate industry: the way in which the public worked-with and related to Realtors® had been forever changed by the Internet. As it turns out, the transformation has been stunning. The way in which real estate is purchased or sold and the role of real estate professionals has become incredibly integrated. Marketing and advertising has shifted almost exclusively to on-line products. Information and statistical data about property, which had been under the control of the agents, is now readily available to the public. Today, virtually all real estate professionals have a website or blog.
It didn’t take me very long to discover that Kenmore Undressed was becoming far more than a place where I wrote about home sales, open houses and statistics. The fact is: I really enjoy writing and blogging has allowed me a creative outlet that I never thought possible. Not only can I put down in words the things I’m pondering, but I can also point my readers to the very sources that inspire me in the form of links, pictures, publications, maps, etc.. It’s a synthetic, integrative process and it’s downright fun.
I have tried to understand how utilizing alternative energy technologies can transform our communities. My hope is that some of these articles might inspire some of our local Kenmore urban planners to consider how we can set some long-term goals to have more homes utilize these technologies.
Eric Teegarden's Solar Home - Click on the picture to read the article
Zero Energy Idea House - Click on the picture to read the article
My wife and I believe that it’s important for everyone to try and purchase the basics from local merchants and producers. We are fortunate here in Kenmore to be close to local, organic farms. As a result we purchased a “share” in a local subscription farm this summer. I was able to produce the following presentation to show you just how wonderful it can be to purchase fresh, local produce:
Click to view the presentation
I have always been interested in how businesses work. When I became a Realtor® I became hyper-aware of the day-to-day challenges of running a business, trying to stay relevant and, at the end of the day, make a living. One of the most enjoyable things I do as a blogger is to write about businesses here in Kenmore and the surrounding area. Here are a few examples:
Click on the picture to read the article
Click on the picture to read the article
Click on the picture to read the article
We all have an alter-ego. You know, that grumpy (Andy Rooney of 60-minutes) self that hides in the background just waiting for a chance to unload on the world. Well, with the help of ElDave on flickr.com and years of experience in the Credit/Collections/Financial Education/Counseling industry I created Mr. Freeze as a way to express my perspective on the American proclivity for financial self-destruction. It also lowers my blood pressure which my doctor appreciates.
As I mentioned above, Kenmore Undressed was supposed to be a new way to “market” myself as a Realtor®. Instead, it has turned out to be one of my passions which lives in spite of the real estate angle. It has made me far more knowledgeable about Kenmore, The City. It has allowed me to introduce myself to some very fascinating people and, frankly, it has made me think more deeply about how the world works. Indeed, it’s been a lot of fun so far and I intend to continue the journey for a long time to come………………………………….
This week we received beets, Swiss Chard, Shallots, Leeks, Red Potatoes, Baby Greens, Corn, tomatoes, free range hen eggs, cucumbers and Kale. I was particularly happy to see that shallots are now available.
Shallots and Leeks are highly under-utilized in the American Kitchen
Shallots are widely used around the world. In Asia they find their way into a huge number of dishes. Here in the West, they are found in a huge array of sauces, especially those created in the process of saute’ and deglazing. This is when the cook browns meat or fish in a saute’ pan, removes the fish/meat and then adds finely chopped shallots to absorb the caramelized residue and then, after softening the shallots adds a liquid to suspend the flavors. Shallots impart a unique flavor that’s supposed to be a cross between onions and garlic. To me they have their own unique flavor. Try them sometime!
Yesterday, we made our way to the Seattle Center for the 22nd Annual Festa Italiana! Not only was the weather about as perfect as it could be, but so were all the food booths and cultural displays. It was all buonissima!
There were a lot of people enjoying all of the food and cultural displays. I even bumped into a couple of my fellow Italian students while we were there.
Of course the food was irresistible. We bought a wonderful loaf of Toscana bread and a traditional “salumi.” And a real treat was a cooking presentation by Nick Stellino one of our favorite TV Chefs. He’s a bit thinner these days but he has lost none of his charm and he had the audience in stitches throughout his presentation.
Nick Stellino
The Piece de resistance of our weekend “foodie adventure” was going to the cinema to watch the yummy, delicious and satisfying film Julie and Julia! Let me just say that this is a wonderful film that tells the story of Julie Powell’s homage to Julia Child while, at the same time, taking us back in time before Julia Child was, well, Julia Child!!! DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND GO AND SEE THIS MOVIE.
It was an incredibly beautiful weekend. I’m sad that it’s come to an end. Oh, wait..one more thing: I’m going to make raspberry shortcake for dessert tonight! There’s no better way to end a “foodie” weekend!
All Stories – Bothell Reporter KUOW The Seattle Times: Real Estate