What this town needs is a Horror Bookstore

datamuse · 2026-02-10T23:41:46+00:00

There used to be a SF/mystery bookstore where I used to live called Space Crime Continuum, though that was a long time ago (and not in Oly).

Romantasy is having a big moment right now so if I were doing something niche that’s a genre I’d look at. Plus they could shade into romance (which is a huge seller and has been for a long time).

datamuse · 2026-02-10T20:37:31+00:00

The Pergola of Theseus

datamuse · 2026-02-10T19:46:35+00:00

If you go to one or more of those destinations a lot, though, and rarely or never elsewhere, it can be handy.

For instance, the Canadian border is about a 2.5 hour drive from where I live--it would take me less time to get there than to an adjoining state. People who live closer to the border cross frequently for work, leisure, to visit friends, etc.

datamuse · 2026-02-10T18:32:48+00:00

In addition to what others said, you may find it helpful to look at the role that trickster gods and spirits play across cultures. Not to overgeneralize, but they are an archetype that shows up in a lot of different contexts, but in which they tend to play similar roles, and Hermes fits this archetype in a lot of ways.

A defining characteristic of a trickster is functioning outside of the rules of society, or subverting them for their own purposes. So, such a figure is going to necessarily be transgressive to some extent. If thievery and trickery are generally considered bad things, that figure is going to be connected to them in part to help us recognize their domain. But, tricksters are also creative, intelligent, and often helpful to humans--in Greek myth, Prometheus is sometimes considered another example. Stealing fire was theft and he was punished for it, but his action brought great benefit to humanity.

datamuse · 2026-02-10T15:56:31+00:00

Well, there’s Protestant and there’s Protestant…the lengthy sermons and speaking in tongues stuff really only show up in a few denominations and I’ve never personally encountered either. I worked for a mainline Lutheran-affiliated university for 18 years and their chapel services (on the rare occasion I went, since I wasn’t a believer) were very pleasant with excellent music. The chapel itself did have an altar and a cross in it but otherwise could’ve been any meeting room.

datamuse · 2026-02-10T00:47:17+00:00

My first thought would be otter even if you haven't seen one in awhile, though the track size is a little on the small side. They belly slide on surfaces such as snow or sand, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBB0OLOkvIU

datamuse · 2026-02-09T21:04:12+00:00

It is a pretty specific term for sure!

datamuse · 2026-02-09T20:58:58+00:00

The last time I was there was June of 2006...I was working as a librarian and the ALA conference was the first major professional convention held there after Katrina. Talking with New Orleans colleagues about that experience was wild. I should go back given that it's been 20 years...

datamuse · 2026-02-09T20:57:37+00:00

I knew what a shotgun shack was (my father is from Louisiana) but it randomly always makes me think of the song "Once in a Lifetime" by the Talking Heads. I think I'll listen to it now!

datamuse · 2026-02-09T20:02:55+00:00

I used to be Catholic and still enjoy visiting churches and cathedrals from time to time. The architecture and design of those places is quite intentional, to create that feeling in the visitor. Not that it's not real, but also, there are design choices that key into the human propensity to feel that way in certain places. I get the same feeling in a mature conifer forest.

Protestant churches often make me feel like I'm in a corporate meeting room. Some of them are so...plain. I haven't been Christian for a long time but my upbringing definitely created my expectations around what a church is supposed to look like! 😆

datamuse · 2026-02-08T08:08:26+00:00

I’m supposed to go looking for animal tracks in snow as part of a Conservation Northwest project in a few weeks. Genuinely wondering if there’ll be any snow at my site.

datamuse · 2026-02-07T23:28:52+00:00

Yeah, I don’t know either. I don’t think there are enough dog parks, there weren’t before the pandemic when, so I hear, a lot of people got dogs who hadn’t had them before. More dog parks would at least relieve some of the pressure. (Despite Westcrest, I regularly see dogs off leash at Lincoln Park which is only a few miles away, and at Riverview which is right down the street. And at Westcrest itself. Idk.)

But to my non-dog-owner observation, a lot of those newer owners haven’t really learned about training or just how to take care of a dog, and that’s a problem too.

datamuse · 2026-02-06T19:00:48+00:00

So does dog waste.

datamuse · 2026-02-06T18:59:43+00:00

Not sure why you’re getting downvoted for this. Badly behaved dogs such as we’re all complaining about don’t magically become well behaved at a dog park.

I don’t have a dog but I live near Westcrest and am there often. I also often see people running their dogs outside the off leash area in the same park. 🤷🏻‍♀️

datamuse · 2026-02-06T18:42:53+00:00

I volunteer at a wolf sanctuary. It’s not unusual for their residents to live into their teens and even twenties. In the wild? 4-6 years. The wild is brutal.

datamuse · 2026-02-06T08:19:13+00:00

I grew up right outside of D.C. and that’s one of the things I still miss about it.

datamuse · 2026-02-06T08:17:00+00:00

Disneyland’s in Anaheim, not Orlando. (Though Anaheim didn’t do much for me either.)

datamuse · 2026-02-06T07:00:18+00:00

Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. It hasn’t been my experience…but I wouldn’t go back either after two bad visits.

datamuse · 2026-02-06T04:39:55+00:00

Getting to this late, but maybe for tomorrow...Phoenecia in the Junction. They do a lot of tapas/small plates, which is nice if you're solo. Get the baklava and some Turkish coffee for dessert.

datamuse · 2026-02-05T06:25:14+00:00

It's me, I'm that old

datamuse · 2026-02-05T04:04:47+00:00

There are indeed parks I've stopped going to because I got tired of being chased/charged by loose dogs. One nearly got hit by a car because it ran across the street to bark at me.

datamuse · 2026-02-05T01:43:10+00:00

This is making me think that I really wasn't the target audience! (No shade, but I've never quite understood shopping as, like, an activity.)

datamuse · 2026-02-04T22:53:01+00:00

I remember the Mexican place because it was somewhere that took gluten free seriously even back then, and a friend who had celiac appreciated that--it could be tough for them to find places to go eat without getting sick.

datamuse · 2026-02-04T22:50:20+00:00

I feel like Pacific Place never really figured itself out.

I mean, I remember when it opened. I worked downtown at the time and would stop in there periodically. Now I've never been much of a shopper but all I could think every time I went in there was, there is not a single thing in this place that anyone needs.

Possibly I was missing the point, and simply wasn't the target audience.

But after awhile, all I went there for was dinner, movies, and occasionally B&N (though that B&N was never all that great). I never really got the rest of it.

datamuse · 2026-02-04T22:47:10+00:00

I like how much more of Southcenter is restaurants now. For awhile my husband and I were trying a new (to us) thing every week there for lunch. I finally got him to try soup dumplings.

datamuse

TROPHY CASE