On my sabbatical this year, I’ve been fortunate enough to learn about many ways that innovators are using technology to make people’s lives better, and this is another fabulous example. Plus, it features a cute orange dinosaur!

Since 2006, Washington’s Republican Secretary of State has canceled more than 450,000 voter registrations in an effort to “clean up” the voter rolls. Sure, many are duplicate registrations or persons who moved out of state. But many are persons who think they’re properly registered and intend to vote in November. I personally know people this has happened to!

It doesn’t take much to get removed from the voter rolls. You may have been removed if, for example:

(1) you haven’t voted in a long time,
(2) your signature on your absentee ballot envelope wasn’t deemed a match with the signature on your registration card, or
(3) your absentee ballot was returned by the post office (the post office doesn’t forward ballots to your new address).

Everyone should check to make sure you are currently registered at your current address. You can do this online, and in most cases you can update your registration online. But you must make any changes by October 4!

Please take a minute to check your registration by clicking here.

Please forward this message to your friends and family! Everyone should check their registration before October 4!

Thanks!

According to an entry on Yelp, the stand disappeared sometime in the last week. Their phone number doesn’t seem to be working. If you know where it went (or a good black tea ice cream recipe), please drop me and email or a comment.

We bought 4 boxes and hid them in the closet. We’ll bust them out next week.

Lauren did you write a letter to seattle weekly about steve scher? Check out mar 26 apr 1 edition

No, I never wrote a letter to Seattle Weekly, but the letter in question certainly looks like one that I could have written:

Dear Uptightness,

I’ve lived in Seattle for three years, having previously lived in the Bay Area and L.A. I love it here: the outdoors, the music, the friendly people. And like you, I’m a huge fan of NPR. However, I can’t stand Steve Scher. I have to run to the radio at 9 a.m. to change the station to avoid his rambling and pointless introductions to dry segments that seem to waste everyone’s time. (And why so many segments on gardening?) I’ve been told natives like him, but every other California transplant I know agrees with me. You were interviewed for his program, so maybe you have some insight. Should I get over myself? Or should I be the vanguard of the “Fire Scher” movement?

Cali Transplant

Gio knows that I can’t stand Steve Scher. He was especially struck by the comment about gardening-themed shows, as he’s heard me complain about them on more than one occasion. And the profile fits – I did move here from California after living in L.A. and the Bay Area.

However, there are a few tip-offs that this wasn’t actually me:

1. While I suppose I technically am a “Cali Transplant,” I wouldn’t be caught dead using the actual words “Cali Transplant.”
2. I’ve lived in Seattle for nearly 5 years, not 3.
3. If I were to write such a letter, I would submit it to Seattle’s Only Newspaper – the Stranger – rather than Seattle Weekly.

But still, pretty weird.

The library is obviously wonderful because of its unique amorphous exterior, the shapes formed by its blue metallic frame and panes of glass, and the views of the city that it offers. But I had the most fun playing with the bright colors of the red stairs and electric yellow escalators.

Dude! Getting drunk with friends on a weeknight – it’s good shit.

This time around, I have all day Sunday free and I want to go do some shooting in various parts of Seattle. Here are some thoughts on places to go (mostly very obvious spots):

• The library
• The Olympic Sculpture Park
• Pike Place Market
• UW campus
• Volunteer Park, and the Conservatory (mmm, maybe I should stop in for a sandwich at VPC)

Any other ideas?