Electrolicious

Yesterday I was on a crowded bus heading towards downtown Seattle. At one stop, a couple of young hip looking guys got on, and suddenly the bus was overtaken by the smell of … what is that? Paint thinner? Fingernail polish remover? Wood polish? The two guys (who couldn’t find a seat and were standing [...]

Why is it so easy to assume that happy = stupid? Couldn’t it be just as likely that happy = has made peace with the fucked-uppedness of it all and refuses to give into futile frustration? I seem to be the only one that thinks this way.

As long as I’m discussing verbal tics (see literally/figuratively below), I have to out my own abused phrases:
• Beginning sentences with “You know, it’s funny…” and then going on to say something that A) the listener doesn’t know and B) isn’t funny.
• “Right.” I say this all the time when I’m listening to people. Unfortunately [...]

My current conversational pet peeve is the way people throw around the word “literally,” using it when they mean “figuratively.”
For example: “I was so thirsty that I drank literally five gallons of water.” No, actually you didn’t. You drank perhaps 10 or 12 ounces all at once, or maybe even a whopping 32. But you [...]

Summary of The Seattle Times: Pacific Northwest Magazine : Our Social Disease? We Seattleites are sort of socially retarded. Totally true!
You’ve just experienced the infamous Seattle Freeze. It’s the flip side of Seattle Nice. Welcome to Seattle . . . Now please go away.
Seattle’s long been described in contradictory terms. The weather: Is it mild [...]

I must take it as more than coincidence that in the span of a day, I had two different people tell me that I’m intimidating.
My first reaction is to think, “Intimidating?! Me?” What’s intimidating about by a semi-soft, nearsighted copywriter? I sit on a computer all day, people! I have crooked teeth, too many beauty [...]

Darlings, let’s talk fashion.
First, I’ll admit my biases: my concepts of fashion are based around function and freakishness. I lean towards articles of clothing that are bizarre and supremely utilitarian. My sensibilities are very Left Coast with bits of hippy and raver mixed in, and of course focused around layers. As a Seattleite (or Portlander, [...]

A friend recently wrote recently about the phenomena of Seattleites being such weenies. And we are! Seattleites are some of the most politely passive people I know, and we tend to feel attacked by people who are assertive. How sad is that?
Here’s Paul’s story:
At the Italian place, I saw the best possible example of [...]

Where do you stand on forgiveness? How do you feel towards people who, in your youth, were cruel to you? Let’s say whether it was intentional or unintentional doesn’t matter. Someone was cruel, and ultimately it was a good thing. It helps, right? Thickening your skin, learning how to stand up for yourself or disregard [...]

This morning I made a run to the local state-run liquor store. That’s how it’s done here in Washington: you can only buy liquor from the state, and their stores are only open Mon - Sat, 9am to 8pm, and close on holidays. So if I want vodka at my barbecue on Monday, I had [...]