8 block walk

Metrix Create:Space

2009-10-25T12:13:00.001-07:00

Metrix Create:Space, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I've changed my route, and pretty much destroyed my commute reports. Now, instead of walking 8 blocks to and from work every morning, I've shortened it to two.

I've opened up a shop on Broadway called Metrix Create:Space, and it is for the hackers, crafters, makers and creative types of Seattle. It's on Broadway and Roy, underneath the Deluxe Bar and Grill, and I do hope you'll come check it out.

We have Tools, Tubes, Coffee, Soldering, Laser Cutting, 3D printing, Sewing machines and much much more.

Do you love washabi?

2009-05-10T01:33:00.001-07:00

washabi, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I'm not a huge fan of fish, so a third sushi place going in on Broadway seems like a stretch to me, but I'm glad something is taking the place of the now gone bbq place and now long-gone magic dragon.

Anyone want to bet on what goes into the old Dilletante? My money is on pho or ice cream.

Broadway

2009-05-01T11:39:00.001-07:00

broadway, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

When i first moved to Capitol Hill, i spent more hours than i could count at the arcade playing Mortal Combat or drinking shots and drawing at Broadway Espresso. I met some great people here, developed a love for the neighborhood, and a happy addiction to caffeine.

Nearly two decades later, it all comes down for light rail construction.

Change is inevitable, I look forward to the wormhole to other neighborhoods, I will miss my old seat at the bar.

hollywood. or maybe just wood.

2009-04-05T19:17:00.001-07:00

hollywood. or maybe just wood., originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Hadn't noticed this before, but Hollywood Video has some problems with their neon. Or maybe not.

I wonder how long it's been like that.

do not cross

2009-03-23T23:30:00.001-07:00

do not cross, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

On the way back home today, I noticed police tape all over the south end of SCCC. Turns out there was a suspicious package, which turned out to be nothing, I asked a cop about it and he told me it was "Typical finals week behavior".

Oh, I got a new camera today too. Hopefully this translates to more posting.

wordle

2009-03-14T21:32:00.001-07:00

wordle, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Everyone else was doing it, and even though I don't normally fall into the memes, I was curious.

Thanks Wordle for the app, bummer it's a total pain to link/re-blog.

Are you ready to change your commute?

2009-03-03T21:56:00.001-08:00

dozers, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I read on Capitol Hill Seattle that the noise ordinance is changing, and construction of Broadway Station is starting soon.

I have to say, I'm excited. Light rail is coming, and that's going to be an awesome thing for the neighborhoods with stations. I know it will increase my footprint and I might actually leave the hill every now and then. It will increase foot traffic in my neighborhood, which is good for retail, and theoretically, it will get people out of their stupid cars.

I also have to say that I'm not looking forward to crossing two streets of loaded down dump trucks every morning and evening, especially with my 3 year old son in tow. I've seen the routes that they have planned, and I'm probably going to have to adjust my current one.

My normal walk to the office is straight down Boylston, crossing both John and Denny.

Crossing John at Boylston always makes me feel like I'm doing something daring. It's just before the crest of the hill, so people coming up the hill are speeding up and people coming down the hill have just left a light and are also gaining momentum. Given the signage and lights, it seems like the city wants people to cross either on Broadway or Summit (where there is actually a lit up crosswalk) but if you're heading to Boylston and Pine (my destination), both of those are bad for several reasons, so I always cross there. It's the fastest route.

Crossing Denny also makes me nervous. There is a blind turn on Denny at Harvard, and again, cars have either just left a light or are coming up off the freeway, so they're going fast here. At the end of the day, the drivers coming down the road have the sun in their eyes. Hazardous.

There's a reason that both of these streets made the 'most dangerous intersections' map.

Drivers on Capitol Hill seem to operate their vehicles under high levels of stress and dumb, so I can't expect that adding trucks full of earth are going to make things any better. I see a lot of Broadway in my future.

tasty pork buns

2009-02-06T19:26:00.001-08:00

humbow, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

A week or so ago I stopped into Shinka Tea for the first time. Smack dab in the middle of my commute, it's a cute little tea shop that also has a couple kinds of humbow, vietnamese coffee, and maybe a dozen types of pocky (including mens pocky!).

Getting take away pork buns and coffee took about 10-15 minutes, so I probably wont make it an every morning stop, but I do have to say it was a nice break from my routine. It's definitely going into the rotation.

i'm sure you've all heard about the buses by now

2008-12-19T20:28:00.001-08:00

bus, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

If you haven't seen the news, and I can't see how being as it's national now, a pair of charter buses slid down East Thomas and busted through the guardrail on Melrose Avenue and hung over I5. I used to live on this corner (seriously awesome view), and the Seattle Times article doesn't mention this, but East Thomas is one of the few cobblestone streets left on the hill and it's dangerous when it's wet, let alone covered in ice and snow.

The fact that one bus driver turned down this obviously dangerous street is one thing, but that the next followed just blows me away. No chains, icy roads, and a turn down a steep grade that ends in a guardrail. Seriously folks. wth.

Update: I saw a woman on the local news say she was de-icing the sidewalk when the buses started their turn. She waved at them and told them to stop, and they just kept going. Awesome.

Capitol Hill loves Vietnamese

2008-12-19T15:48:00.001-08:00

broadway cafe, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

If you want Vietnamese food on the hill, it doesn't seem like it should be a problem.

There's Than Bros, Pho 900, Phocyclo, The place in "The Alley", Ballet, Pho Tai and Broadway Cafe. Broadway Cafe also carries Humbow. Shinka has humbow, but no Pho. I never make it up to the "fancy pants" parts, so I don't know if this exists already, but who has the best pastries, and are they open in the morning? Inquiring minds want to know.

My current vietnamese sandwich haunt is the Broadway Cafe, and it hurts me to let you know, because I don't like it when the place is full, but I have to say, it's the biggest bestest (and jalepeno-est) on the hill. The captothehill girls also agree, so you dont have to take my word alone.

it's cold out

2008-12-17T11:18:00.001-08:00

volunteer park reservoir, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

It's cold out, and it's slippery business walkin. I've heard that it'll be 3-6 inches of snow soon, and looking at the grey grey skies, I believe it. Windy, cold, snowy. Brr.

It's also the last hacknight of the year at Metrix tonight. I'd link to the SeattleWireless site, but it's down due to DDOS. Blah.

Cold, snowy, box is down, last hacknight of the year. Tonight could be trouble.

There's a 2 pound box of chocolate in the office too.

little teapot

2008-11-18T21:58:00.001-08:00

little teapot, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Walking in today, I got to see a bunch of people who usually accost me with a survey or a cause (they all had their clipboards down and I didn't catch which group they were with) doing a rendition of "I'm a little teapot" on Broadway.

Team building exercise or just a tad of whimsy, I'm not complaining. I was amused...

voting

2008-11-04T18:35:00.001-08:00

i voted!, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Today was the day to vote, and the last chance we get to vote at our local polls.

I'm bothered about the move to mail-in only ballots. Voting is one of those things that I remember my parents doing when I was young, and bringing my son to the polls is something that I enjoy and looked forward to in the future.

Voting shouldn't be like sending in a bill, or filling out a survey.

There's something special about going to vote, filling in the bubbles and watching your vote go into the machine. You're there with your neighbors, you talk with the volunteers. You leave feeling like you've taken part in the process, and I just don't understand how this mail-in thing is going to give me that same feeling. Will this move really improve turnout?

I understand that it's cheaper to do mail in voting, and I understand that the only inevitable thing in this life is change. But it saddens me to see this piece of our democracy go away.

Park(ing)

2008-09-20T16:52:00.001-07:00

parking, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Friday was Park(ing) day, and a park was set up right out in front of the office. An already unproductive day, and lured by the live music, I decided to head on down and see if I could learn the rules of cribbage through observation, and drink a little coffee.

Turns out I can drink coffee. I'm a pro at that.

the way is blocked

2008-08-25T21:41:00.001-07:00

the way is blocked, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I was walking in to work today, when I heard a crack, looked up, and saw this branch fall right in front of me. If I was a fast walking ipod type of person, it could have been the end of me.

I suppose it pays to slack.

Fire Grill BBQ?

2008-08-12T09:36:00.001-07:00

fire grill bbq, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Pretty much anything sounds better than Magic Dragon to me, but I have to say, BBQ sounds pretty good. Now it's just a matter of pinning down *which kind* of BBQ it is. My bets are on Brazillian. Any other guesses?

um. yeah.

2008-08-07T13:50:00.001-07:00

um., originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I'm not really sure what to think about this van.

eyes on broadway

2008-07-31T04:05:00.001-07:00

eyes on broadway, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Walking home tonight, I spotted this huge poleful of cameras pointed at the intersection of Broadway and John. Is this a red light camera or is someone really interested in what's on sale at the rite-aid? Either way, that tree right in front of the camera is going to have to get cut down.

It will of course need to be covered with graffiti and stickers for it to turn invisible. I give it a week.

Wii Wednesdays!

2008-07-11T15:39:00.001-07:00

wii-wednesdays, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Pretty much every wednesday, the SeattleWireless crew has HackNight at my office, then we wander off to a bar for drinks until we get a craving for tacos. This week, we went up to the Rubber Ducky Regatta at Cal Anderson park, said our farewells to Vivace, and dropped into the ~~Metropolitain Grill~~ Cafe Metropolitain for a couple of cold PBRs.

We discovered that in addition to the $1 PBRs during happy hour, the Metropolitain has Free WiFi, Foosball, Pool, and wednesdays full of Wii playing. Needless to say, we got our Wii on and knocked back a bunch of cheap beer.

For a bar that has a billion little distractions, it always seems light on people (although there did appear to be a stitch and bitch in progress when we showed up). Maybe it's the weird disney/vegas-esque indoor outdoor theme, maybe it's just because it's out of the way, or on the way to other places.

what's on the board?

2008-07-07T23:51:00.001-07:00

what's on the board?, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

When I'm hurtin for stuff to write about, I just head over to Office Nomads and check out the events board.

Sustainable Capitol Hill is throwing a sustainability festival called "Imagine Capitol Hill" on Sunday July 20th. There will be food and art, live music and dancing in the streets. It will be adjacent to the Farmers Market off Broadway, so if you're headed up there for tasty tasty jams or some omfg awesome ice cream (last week I got a spicy mexican chocolate cone), you'll have to check it out.

It's guaranteed to be a good time.

If that's not soon enough for you and you really wanna get your block party on, the East Precinct is also having a ~~party~~ neighborhood picnic this Saturday. Free food, a raffle, and information booths!

Mystery or Mysry?

2008-07-01T19:57:00.001-07:00

Mystery or Mysry?, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

If you're feeling like you need a change and of course, you have some change, drop by the locksmith's coke machine on John, just east of Broadway. Put your $0.55 in the machine and punch a button. Mystery or Mysry. A can of frosty unknown.

If you can't handle the unknown, the machine also has Coke, Pepsi and Mountain Dew.

I'm fairly certain this is one of the cheapest and most refreshing deals on the hill.

$5 a gallon by July 4th

2008-06-10T20:07:00.001-07:00

fuel crisis at SPD, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I've heard the price of gas keeps going up. I guess it's a good thing we dont have a car. I wonder how hard this is going to hit the price of shipping.

SPD braved the weather randomness on horseback today. I wonder why more people don't have horses in the city. Maybe soon.

bees

2008-06-08T15:57:00.001-07:00

bees, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Sometimes it's hard to write stuff down, even when there's a lot going on, so here's a picture of a bee. It's a beautiful day out.

I've been tapped to contribute over at Capitol Hill Seattle blog, and there's a bit of overlap, so I'm going to have to pick up the pace.

manchester united

2008-05-21T17:22:00.001-07:00

manchester united, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

A group of Manchester United fans has been celebrating their Champions League win all day down at Kurrent on Pine. They've been shouting, tooting horns and singing at the top of their lungs all day (I think they started around 9AM).

It's the first time I've ever seen Kurrent full and spilling out onto the street.

Good times.

hot out

2008-05-17T23:06:00.001-07:00

fisher, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

The news didn't lie, it was 90 today. we played in the fountain at Fisher Plaza, what did you do to get out of the heat?