Belltown Snowpocalypse

Lack of snow and freezing winter temps are just a few of the many reasons I decided to leave Detroit for Seattle. Well, we had a winter storm here that essentially shut down much of the city for a few days. I took some pictures in Belltown of the snow, and thought I'd share. 

This first set of pictures are from Sunday, January 14, 2012, around Noon.

2nd Ave looking southeast

2nd Ave looking northeast. The Space Needle is missing. 

2nd Ave between Bell and Blanchard

2nd Ave between Bell and Blanchard

And a video from 12:47pm.

After the storm, around 1:30pm. 

The second set of pictures are from Wednesday, January 18, 2012. I had trouble sleeping that evening.

A video from 3:19am, when the "Big Storm" started in Belltown.

2nd Ave 3:52am

2nd Ave 3:54am. Even Snowmaggedon won't stop the crack dealers.

I finally was able to get a few hours of shut eye, then woke up to a Belltown Winter Wonderland. Here are pics from around Belltown and sledding at Pike Place Market:

Social Media Shaming

Update:
Turns out, they got the wrong guy. Horrible.

This weekend a man, named Andrew, stiffed a bartender on the Hill and wrote a very mean note on her receipt. In response, the neighborhood has come together to publicly shame him and some bars are even threatening to 86 him from the Hill permanently. Some quick Google searching, or your Cap Hill friends FB page, will give you his full name, pic, link, etc.

Read the story on The Slog
Read the story on Seattle Weekly
Google search and find a million more stories.

I am not quite sure how I feel about this - and some of the comments, hate speech, etc. are totally out of line. Does a person really deserve to be publicly lynched by an angry cyber bully flash mob?

But the fact remains, in this day and age a quick Google search will bring up pictures, work experience, even your first grade teacher's name. It's never a good idea to act like this (and it's just plain rude!) but it's definitely not a good idea when you use a credit card - with your real name.

But, being from Belltown (this happened on the Hill though) we tend to loathe the bridge/ferry/freeway kids (this kid was apparently from Kent) because many - not all, of course - act this way.

One of my clients had a similar incident with one of their own vendors! They posted about it, too, for all of the world to see (sans photo, however.)

This is more and more becoming the norm, so I guess the moral is something you probably started learning as a young child... Treat others the way you would like to be treated. If you don't, you could be the next one to be publicly shamed via social media networks (which oddly enough, goes against the treat others rule...)

Identity Crisis?

I have a little bit of an identity crisis, or well, maybe I just had to open a new Twitter account that is free of F-Bombs and crackhead insults. Turns out your employer might frown on that. 

Anyway, Visual.ly has an awesome Twitter analyzer tool that lets you compare yourself to another Twitter user. 

According to this infographic, @elise81 is way cooler than @eliseoras. 

Also, side note, this was designed by Shane Snow, who once interviewed me for an article about Del Rey and foursquare ages ago. You can find that here: 6 Innovative Ways Businesses are Capitalizing on Foursquare

Elevator Signs I Can Get Behind

If you're a reader of my very occasional blog posts, you already know about the crazy elevator signs we sometimes come home to, in my Belltown apartment building. Well, today, after a very long day at work... I came home to this:

Then, if you look to the left... this:

Congrats to our neighbors, Jonnie & Erin! 

And yay for neighbor, Chris, with his awesome sign.

Best Response Sign Ever

My apartment manager is known for his passive aggressive elevator notes. They all follow the same formula - threatening but passive tone, massive spelling and grammar mistakes, three or four colors, smiley faces and, of course, the dreaded comic sans.

Here was the sign when I left for work:

Here is the sign when I came home from work, clearly written using the same formula as my apartment manager:

I think the neighbors have finally had enough. I am not sure which neighbor is responsible for the note, but I applaud their creativity.

To put it in context, here are some past notes:

And my all time favorite, Sex on the Roof:

Update, 7/8/11, 9:49am:

I just went to get coffee and this was in my elevator this AM. OK, now, I am being affected this weekend and I am not even sure this is legal. Anyone know Seattle Renters Rights when it comes to apartment amenities and apartment manager egos?

Also, we all know that collective or group punishment doesn't work, right? Some states have even outlawed it for teachers to use in their classrooms, and the Geneva convention outlawed it - because it is not effective (and no, I'm not comparing war crimes to roof closings - they are very different, clearly.) Group punishment is especially not effective when the "good neighbors" cannot even pressure or "tell on" the bad neighbors, because we don't even know who they are, let alone if they left plates on the roof.

Update, 7/8/11, 10:48am: