seattle. 22. female.

my cancellation of cable and silent protest of movie theater prices somehow let this slip by, but as my buddy brad pointed out, there’s a new set of lookalikes in town and it’s blowing his mind:

mike meyer’s newest creation, the love guru and indie musician, devendra banhart.

by mutual doning of awkwardly adorable outfits, long and flowy jesus locks and the true one-two punch of a sweet stache/beard has me convinced that their mamas know the same milkman.

apparently this look does it for natalie portman, as she and banhart have been dating since early april. in a word: huh??

who do you think looks alike?

i’m pretty shameless. however yesterday’s less than proud americano required self-burglary, and i’m pretty sure my piggy bank is pissed.

after counting out 17 dimes, 3 quarters and a nickel, i wouldn’t be surprised if the baristas at vita have pasted my mug above the register, with a fat sharpie slash over my face.

my mrs. moneybags morning was enough to send me to half price books to get cash for some dusty books.

word to the wise: half price ain’t shellin out for shitty books, go elsewhere.

as much as i love that place, three purseloads (bear in mind i could backpack most of the world, feed most of the hungry and schlub around a baby hippo in one of my enormous bags) should have landed me with more than $24. $24!!

the process: go downstairs, empty your library on the counter. they’ll sort through and after 15-20 minutes come up with a price. from there you can either sell or peace out. i should have peaced.

the major plus was that they offered to dispose of, donate or god knows what with my less than appreciated literature. my heinous, unsellable literature.

a tip: be especially aware of any embarrassing high school pictures where braces and bad prom dates photos that are hiding between pages.

i’ve heard that twice sold tales buys back, however these feline loving book nerds aren’t currently buying back for cash, credit only.

be smarter than i was: read the buy guy’s faqs and you’ll likely score more cash than i did.

p.s. not only do i feel royally irked, the tempting sale left me walking out with $4. however i am a proud new owner of a blood, sweat & tears record and ogden nash biography (which probably aren’t going to help me do laundry any sooner).

just when i thought lykke li was all i needed to get by…i saw her and her swedish cohorts in concert at the triple door a few weeks back and furthermore convinced i was born in the wrong country.

…well, that and completely tone-def.

if you want to read a review, there are plenty floating around the blogosphere.

all i ask is that you check out the cohorts: el perro del mar & anna ternheim:

anna ternheim:

el perro del mar:

In fact, he’s so young, there’s an entire blog dedicated to his age.

Things Younger Than John McCain accounts for all things younger than Republican candidate and US Senator, John McCain.

Born in 1936, John McCain would be the oldest person inaugurated to the office (if elected).

The blog features a silly collection of posts that reveal a schload of things are older than McCain.

Just to name a few:

• Both of Obama’s Parents
• Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs
• 90210, the zipcode
• Minimum Wage (pictured right)
• TV Dinners
• Velcro
• The Golden Gate Bridge
• Alaska

Curious for more?

as a native oregonian, i gotta tell ya that it’s damn exciting time for my state.

it’s no wonder so many folks turned out for senator barack obama’s rally speech in portland on sunday. In years past, at this point in the election all the major electoral votes are tallied and the two candidates have been chosen months ago. In their obligatory stop, they spend one day campaigning and it’s typically to promote the presidential election and not the primaries.

therefore i’m pumped that the numbers game hasn’t discounted oregon yet. usually our seven electoral votes are discounted come this point in the primaries.

i know how oregon is perceived. yes, that hole between washington and california isn’t solely comprised of tree huggers. although i, along with most of portland favors the left, oregon isn’t as liberal as people may initially assume.

in 2004, john kerry won the presidential vote by 51%. however if it weren’t fore portland liberals, oregon results simply wouldn’t be the same.

in 2000, al gore barely beat george w. bush by a rough 6,700 votes. interestingly enough, 77,000 folks voted for ralph nader.

these approximated facts go to show that oregon is not just a state of 3.6 million hippies.

fact be known, there are a lot of rural towns throughout the state. as someone with a family of farmers, rural usually equates to conservative; therefore when blogs refer to it as “obama oregon,” i giggle.

that being said (or written, rather), cheers to my neighbors turning out for obama’s rally speech on sunday. the new york times estimates 77,000 folks braved the sun to support the candidate.

OK Tyra–

You finally let the “full-figured” gal stay for more than three shoots. Not only that, she actually won! Whitney Thompson, pictured left won the most recent round of America’s Next Top Model.

And as great as I think a non-emaciated girl winning is, I can’t help but suspect it to be a ploy.

As Tyra’s waistline has trimmed, I think Thompson’s win was more crafted than coincidence.

Take for example the small focus group of my buddies and me, none of us watch the show anymore. For a variety of reasons: obnoxious attitudes, scripted results, Tyra’s idiocy; I suspect we’re not the only ones.

Back in 2006 (circa Caridee) the Nielsen ratings were at their highest. This season, ratings are undeniably down. With such facts and figures, I can’t help but speculate that Thompson’s win was scripted before a single photo was ever snapped.

It would be a clever ploy to bring viewers back.

Let’s face it, Tyra always goes on a spiel about how much curvy chicks rule and then plops them in world’s most unflattering outfit next to a broom stick and they have a pose off.

I hate to be a Negative Nancy, but Thompson’s win as the curvy gal was long over-due. Now they just need a lesbian & an asian and ANTM will have met the quota.

See Whitney’s win.

Great balls of fire!

Johnny Depp may buy the space that was formerly the Crocodile Cafe.

The Seattlest reports,

“It’s going around the streets of Seattle like wildfire that Johnny Depp is going to buy the old Crocodile Cafe and make it much, much cooler (and hotter) than it ever was before.”

Lemme tell ya, this and pretty much only this would be the only reason this gal can be dragged down to Belltown after dusk.

Say this isn’t all heresay and actually happens, what genre of Johnny Depp do you imagine his bar would be?

• Creepy, colorful pop Johnny, a la Charlie & The Chocolate Factory?

• Down, dirty and grubby Jack Sparrow Johnny (aka a sexed up version of The Comet)?

• French boheminan, acoustic guitar plucking, tres chic Johnny

• Rockabilly Johnny with a tattooed tear and half a bottle of gel?

• Or perhaps an all ages, innocent Johnny hangout?

Which one would you dig?

I forgot how damn annoying The Slog is with elections.

If i wanted a play-by-play I’d call up Qwest and tune into CNN.

I deleted cable for a reason.

It’s a shame 10% of The Slog’s content is great and 90% is total garbage. Unfortunately they’re the leader in Seattle blogs and it’d be absolutely foolish to do so.

To the writers of The Slog (aka Eli Sanders): GO HOME. LOG OFF.

STOP CLOGGING UP MY NEWSFEED READER WITH ONE SENTENCE POSTS!

Little girls everywhere slip their feet into their sister’s heels, hoping one day they’ll be grown-up enough to wear them for real.

However the time is here and I feel like a buffoon whenever I strap on a pair.

As seen in any given Sex & The City episodes, Carrie Bradshaw and her glamor posse are always sporting $400 pairs of heels. Likely uncomfortable and uber expensive, I’d rather save that $400 for rent.

Perhaps it’s a generational thing? Perhaps it’s because I’m a broke college kid that wonders if a $10 pair of thrift store jeans will break the bank?

Suddenly Bradshaw and her posse seperate themselves as a whole different generation of heel-wearing glamor pusses. If the stiletto is the quinessential 30-something device, than the flat is the 20-something’s stiletto.

Although I know I could rack Bradshaw’s look for pennies, the whole look of heels is increasingly foreign. As is evident of any time I slip them on, they quickly fly across the room in contempt of pain and fury.

I’d rather be in a pair of flats.

With a modest price, flats are besties with the tall and the frugal alike. Flats have reconciled our need to stand tall when going out without achieving amazon status.

Flattery becomes an issue, unlike their lengthening counterparts, flats are likely unflattering to the naked leg (unless you’re a total twig).

Sure they aren’t all roses, a new pair can be mutually discomforting to a pair of 4″ sky-highs.

Although flats are far more practical, let’s be honest…our feet hurt from them far more than we’re letting on.

As any gal will tell you, flats have short lifespans: there’s a fine line between when the blisters-and -bandage period stops and the stank sets in. Arch support sucks ta’boot.

What is it about women and their uncomfortable shoes?

Eustace Tilley meets Capitol Hill!

An entry by Annie Matronic in The New Yorker’s Eustace Tilley 2008 contest.

Check out more entries!

We’ve all thought about how we can get into the Guinness World Records. And according to my most recent YouTube endeavor I can’t help but wonder what about eating random things as fast as possible that spikes our interest?

We’ve all heard of the ridiculous challenges:

• The Saltine Challenge, eating 6 saltines in 60 seconds.
• Eating a tablespoon of cinnamon.
• 100 shots of beer in 100 minutes.
• Drinking a gallon of milk in an hour and keeping it down for 20 minutes afterward.

I suppose we can thank Paul Newman for this phenomena, after all it was Newman that bet he could eat 50 hardboiled eggs in an hour in Cool Hand Luke. (more…)

What is it about Dave Matthews Band that Seattle folks simply cannot get enough of?

It can’t be the good music…listening to DMB is flat out torture. In fact, I venture to say prying each of my toenails off with rusty pliers would be more fun than listening to that monotonous schload.

Perhaps it’s because I’m not a native Seattlelite, however I am from the Northwest. AND HAVE EARS.

Excuse the tangent, but DMB slipped in after the grungefest and before the boy band craze.

After Kurt Cobain kicked it, Seattle was left salivating for the next band to cling to. In a year that The Spice Girls and “The Macarena” propelled to success, it’s no shock that a band with a yawnfest sound like DMB drifted to a national obsession, particularly to a cult degree here in the Northwest.

Normally my distaste for the mediocre musicians remains mute, however yesterday my frustration climaxed. Just down the street, Dave Matthews and Today’s Ann Curry sat with the Dalai Lama in the Key Arena yesterday talking before a sold out crowd.

Need I also bring up that Death Cab for Cutie opened?

Why don’t we just shove a perfectly foamed cappuccino and wrap his holiness with a flannel shirt?

Agree. Disagree…I don’t care. I hate DMB.

Seattle Times article, Oh humble night: Dalai Lama, Dave Matthews, Death Cab for Cutie

The Star.com article, Dalai Lama avoids talk of Tibet woes

In case you’re not a news phene, allow me to introduce you to baby Lali.

Just over a month old, the Indian infant was born with Craniofacial duplication, meaning Lali has two faces shared by one head–two sets of eyes, noses and lips.

I can’t help but imagine what life would be like for Lali had she been born in America. Unlike her Indian neighbors, Americans would likely label her as a freak.

However the very opposite seems to be occurring over seas. According to the BBC, Indians are flocking to see the child, eager to sneak a peak.

Some believe her to have special powers, others revere her as a goddess.

Whatever they want to call baby Lali, I think it’s bewitching that a country looks at such an aberration in a positive light instead of shuttering as I fear most Westerners would.

The full AP story

April 2nd - April 9th

Slight thumbs down: a very intriguing Caffe Vita barista being M.I.A. My friend has her fingers crossed you haven’t moved.

Major thumbs down: Stranger Than Paradise - What’s with the sky high Netflix rating? Normally a few beers may alter my perception of films, this one was straight up horrible.

2 enthusiastic thumbs down: all the cherry blossom trees dying/wilting..whatever the terminology is it makes me sad. Perhaps the snow scared them away

Slight thumbs up: The hold system at Seattle Public Library not sucking!

I reserved and received despite the 26 holds in front of me.

Major thumbs up: Discussion of charging for people using plastic/paper bags. Although I’m a big advocate of plastic bag users being charged more so than paper.

2 enthusiastic thumbs up: LexBlog hiring me as their newest intern!

Haven’t you always wondered how the hell DJs pick their names?

Alas! You can not only find out, but help choose.

We at “The Thursday Throwdown”(aka my radio show) are craving DJ names, but are lacking creativity. Therefore help a coupla damsels and throw us some suggestions. Remember, the sillier the better.

A snip-it from our myspace blog:

Help us be hip and cool. (And we’re serious about the cupcake!)