Here's another one that falls into the folklore category. In the early 1970s there was a dorm resident known as the "Midnight Sponge." If you spilled your yogurt on the floor, if you knocked over a beer on the table, if you slopped lentil soup on a chair, you could call the Midnight Sponge at any time of day or night and he would arrive at the scene of the accident armed with a giant sponge. Some accounts claim he had a bathroom towel he used as a cape. And he would clean up the mess. People recounted his "adventures" for years to come. I think he was gone by the time I was enrolled, so he must have been a very early resident.

This story fascinated me so much that it stuck in my cranium for years. This was weirder than anything I could make up, and he served as the inspiration (i.e., I simply lifted him) for a character I used in my comic book series Bezango WA 985 (shameless plug, you can find my comix for sale at the Danger Room, just ask for the books by Olympia's oldest cartoonist, which isn't really true since I'm sure Tucker Petertil is a bit older than me). Anyway, here's how this Evergreen legend turned into a comic character, (my character had a cape, mask, and a big M on his shirt) I'll quote from issue #2:

"If you spill something, like a glass of orange juice on the kitchen counter, you can call the Midnight Sponge at any time, doesn't matter if it is 2 in the morning or 2 in the afternoon, and he'll show up with a big sponge and clean the mess. We all know his true identity, but we pretend we don't. And when we run across his day-job self, we are always sure to praise the heroic deeds of that mysterious hero and conclude with, 'I wonder who he really is. Where does he go? What dark secret is he protecting?' Then both of us go through a mutual bit of acting, since I'm sure he knows that we know who he really is."

"If you want to know who he really is, I'm afraid you'll just have to move to Bezango."

A Presentation accompanied by a Short film and discussion on the Situation Surrounding the Mysterious disappearance and m u r d e r s of hundreds of women in Juarez, Mexico

Thursday Nov. 17th. In Lec. Hall 1 @ 7 pm.

Presented by the Thurston County National Organization of Women. (N.O.W)

We know it is right before the break but this event will be worth it to stay around just a little longer!!!! It should be a wonderful presentation!!! It is the last event in the series and We hope to see you there!

~ The Women's Resource Center

Don't forget the bit about keeping an open mind. If you want to hear the same old stereotypes and name calling, turn on Fox News, Air America, Rush Limbaugh, etc. This is a place for a different kind of conversation.

Warning: using ad hominem attacks and questioning other people's motives may be hazardous to your status on Olyblog.

So play nice.

[update]

I've added a new function to the site: the ability to send private messages. So check your inbox -- you might have a message!

The Nose, a column in Tacoma's News Tribune, has a provocative theory about why the U.S. Postal Service is planning to change its way of conducting business in Oly:

Not to feed all you conspiracy theorists out there, but ya think this might be part of a plot by the feds to shut down the tree-hugging, Bush-hating capital city and move everything north to T-Town?

Although, now that the brewery is closed, what's in it for us?

How would a harm reduction model apply to cigarette smoking here in Olympia?

I find it useful from time to time to shift my perception and think on how accessible my surroundings are, or are not. I encourage others to do the same.

I'm walking or rolling along a west side neighborhood sidewalk. Ahead of me is a huge buckled crack in the sidewalk. Fortunately it is painted with a strip of warning color, fortunately I know to watch my feet/wheels, so I have time to consider. If I'd been enjoying the color of autumn leaves overhead too much, I might be crashed out on the ground by now. Can I get over that cracked sidewalk? If not, is there a useful detour?

I'm downtown. Maybe I am blind and I use a cane. I'm stopped in my progress, I have figured out that ahead of me is a store signboard blocking my path. To my right is a fixed garbage can, behind me are people who seem unable to slow down. I hear a door opening to my left.

I want to go to a social justice group meeting. I search out the address and discover that it is on the second floor of a building, a building without a working elevator. The stairs are narrow and I'm not going to be able to get up them.

Yep, there is the blue disability access sticker on the door, so I should be able to get in here. But the automatic door opening button isn't working. Or it is positioned so only a contortionist can reach it.

It's a great place to shop, but trying to get through the aisles is murder. They are too narrow, often obstacles are on the floor, and other people tend to stand in groups for long conversations, blocking the way.

The office letterhead lists a TTY/TDD number, which is what I need to use, electronic device for folks who are deaf and those with hearing difficulties. The office advocates for people having difficulties with another agency. Yes, they have the number set up and it's on their letterhead, but no one in the office actually knows how to use it.

Imagine having different abilities. How accessible is your location right now?

This sounds cool:

Turning Cherry Street into a pedestrian corridor connecting the Cherry Street office building to East Bay. Cherry would be a one-way, tree-lined street with textured crosswalks and streetlights. Sidewalks would be widened so people can dine outside.

I really like the idea of a pedestrian corridor. It would be like the paseo in a Spanish town. (Maybe we'd even get some tapas bars!) Other improvements are included in the plan as well, such as extending trees down Legion Way all the way to Sylvester Park.

Here is a copy of written testimony that I submitted earlier this evening at the Port of Olympia's Commission Meeting. I also gave oral testimony. They had a long agenda, so I kept it brief and outlined the major points:

• The war is illegal.
• the war is unethical.
• The American Service men and women are not to be blamed, condemned or even necessarily judged, but the war planners are culpable and are to be held accountable.
• We in Olympia have an opportunity to send a message, loud and clear: Abuse of the American Military is unacceptable, and we will not enable it via the use of the municipal port for military shipments destined for Iraq.

That was the gist of what I said. Think it'll make a difference? I have been hammering away on this issue with the port commissioners for 3 or 4 months now, so that we are getting to know each other somewhat. Though I don't think all of them would be too terribly distraught if I gave up and stopped commenting on the militarization of our municipal port. Here's a link to the Port of Olympia's web-site. Meeting minutes will be published within the next month or so. Cheerio!