Potluck!

RantWoman wants to thank someone she does not know for sharing her Allentown condo's community space with a RantWoman potluck group. This gesture was Plan B in the face of monsoon season: we had planned to visit the P-patch a member of our group tends, but the weather was decidedly uncooperative and the diners decidedly more the polite indoor types than hardy plucky dine out in any weather anywhere nature freaks. A group courtesy resulted in someone not even getting invited to the party, an oversight we resolved at some point to correct.

RantWoman's readers may guess from the text below that RantWoman could be expected to go all Dial-a-Tirade about Allentown. RantWoman COULD do that, but she really is sincerely grateful for an opportunity to visit and not as displeased as she might have predicted about many features of the neighborhood.

First, RantWoman is exceedingly fond of the number 8 bus route, both in terms of companion mix and travel route. RantWoman hopped the northbound 8 and settled in for a great chat with someone she knows and then settled in again when someone got off. RantWoman does not understand why anyone would drive along Denny Way and is continually baffled by the vast hordes who do when they could bound aboard the bus instead.

RantWoman was gratefully delivered to the stop closest to REI in time to go wander around the REI waterfall noises for a good bit. RantWoman appreciates options for instance either to further do the kayak and life preserver thing or, if one is a city kid like RantWoman, not. Even RantWoman though gets to seize some soothed nerves and the whispers of mountaineering fantasy embodied in pickax doorhandles and other touches for the urbanite proto-outdoorsperson.

Speaking of urbanite proto-outdoorsperson, RantWoman was too lazy to go look at footwear. However, one of RantWoman's more rainworthy bags, the one that most closely approximates a purse, is undergoing peculiarly entertaining decay at all seams and load-bearing points. RantWoman does not want to tell RantMom whose gift the decaying bag was, that RantWoman might have predicted this sort of accelerated decay at the outset. RantWoman is meditating about either herself or RantMom taking up needle and thread to halt and revers the decay. RantWoman, though may sease the meditating and just start scoping out preferred merchandise and dropping rather directive hints as holiday gift-giving season rolls around.

RantWoman was delighted to see several bags she can imagine fitting the bill--except for ONE issue: RantWoman demands enhanced reflectivity and would be thrilled, thrilled to find such built into the design of bags, all bags, including purselike bags, not limited to blaring bicycle messenger bags andurbane backpacks. RantWoman realizes in retrospect she may have been looking in the wrong section or she may just have to keep adding her own reflectivity measures, but a girl likes to dream.

A girl likes to dream, but if REI is supposed to summon hints of wilderness into the urban wildlands, it was time for RantWoman to return to such outdoors as was available in Allentown. In RantWoman's travels among Seattle's various emerging "urban villages," RantWoman has noticed an awful lot of big ugly box buildings with no balconies, no window boxes, NOTHING either to break up massive facades or to hold plant life closer to individual units, the way RantWoman remebers seeing in a few close old cities in Europe.

One of the things RantWoman has liked about observing the erection of big towers in Allentown is that a pretty substantial percentage of the new buildings seem to include lots of balconies and other forms of construction interest, as well as a decent start on nice greenery at ground level. RantWoman also liked the second floor balcony she visited lined with delightful potted plants.

RantWoman appreciated the enthusiasm of the friendly couple who, when RantWoman and Thwack needed to check our orientation, bubbled about just turning left at the end of an alley to get to the P-patch. RantWoman was unsure which form of "across from the P-patch: would apply and had incorrectly recorded a key phone number. RantWoman's approach in such situations is generall to go somewhere more or less in the vicinity of her destination and just act tall and see whether the people she intends to meet will find her. This worked fine in this case, though those who found RantWoman were less interested in strolling in the P-patch than in removing themselves from spitting rain. Sigh.

More of our group emerged from cars and recounted our travel adventures. RantWoman spoke of the #8 bus instead of the Light Rail and the SLUT. South Lake Union brand identity types: RantWoman has a suggestion for what to call the streetcar. It's a suggestion that even makes a nice acronym. RantWoman wants there to be a contest or some kind of way to benefit from this intellectual property. Unfortunately RantWoman is not a terribly competent capitalist and possibly could be bribed with a latte or something of that ilk. Perhaps it is enough that those assembled had already had enough of a conversation about the SLUT before the couple newest to town arrived so the new couple will have to wait to hear the story. Maybe the right person will buy RantWoman a latte and the new couple can get about noting loftier elements of Seattle culture.

There followed a lovely filling multi-ethnic meal with tasty and absolutely nutritious items from all major food groups and even moderately in conformance with that new-fangled food pyramid thingie. RantWoman was so well-fed and so well nourished conversationally that she is simply going to leave her readers imaginations to handle the rest of the evening. Hah. RantWoman has one more digression!


In keeping with the general meme of software gazillionaires, RantWoman is collecting performance info about various combinations of accessibility software and operating system version in public sites.... RantWoman finds it peculiarly helpful to know that "everyone" in town, defined for this conversation as more than one location, is having trouble with the latest upgrades and shotgun marriages of different products the naive and optimistic user MIGHT think ought to work as desired out of the box. But perhaps this is enough grousing about software matters and RantWoman should just shut up for the weekend and enjoy the view at her potluck.