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Where’d You Go, Bernadette

“Your (School) mission statement, says Galer Street, is based on global connectitude. You, people, don’t just think outside the box, you think outside the dictionary!”

Seattle and its culture are very prominent in this funny novel by Maria Semple, Where’d You Go, Bernadette.

If you are familiar with Seattle, you will find many references such as the Craftsman houses, neighborhoods, the “Seattle Freeze” (how cold native Seattle residents are to outsiders), Microsoft, and Chihuly chandeliers:

“Hovering over me was the Chihuly chandelier. Chihuly’s are the pigeons of Seattle. They’re everywhere and even if they don’t get in your way, you can’t help but build up a kind of antipathy toward them.”

I would recommend checking this book out!

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Mason Jar as a glass?

I remember the first time my drink was served in a Mason Jar. It was in a new and trendy place. I thought it was weird. But then it happened again in an other bar and restaurant, then at a friend’s house… The last time it happened was at Skillet.

I don’t find it comfortable or easy to drink from a jar.

Mason Jars are for canning, storage, or can even be used as vases but I definitely don’t like them for drinking.

The “UP” House

In 2006, Edith Macefield turned down a million dollar offer to sell her house to developers who wanted to build a mall in this developing Ballard neighborhood. She had already been living there for 50 years.
Her house was then surrounded by 3 walls and stood between a Trader Joes and a LA Fitness Gym.
When I learned this story from Seattle Sketcher exhibit, I immediately thought of the aging widower in the Pixar movie UP who did not want to leave his house. I called it the UP house.
Mrs Macefield died in 2008 at the age of 86 but her house has not been incorporated into the Mall. With respect to its history, the house had not been demolished. One floor was supposed to be added and a public space below called Credo Square would be designed for community events. But it seems that new changes are on their way

UPDATE 2/08/2015: The house is now on sale and the foreclosure auction will be held in March 2015. It may be the end of the story, the house could be completely demolished. Sad…