How well do you know Olympia? Here's the game: Each Saturday (or Tuesday) I post a picture from somewhere around Olympia and people try to figure out where it is. The first person who gets the location correct gets to be the first person who correctly got the location *yay!*.

Last night I attended the quarterly membership meeting of the ODA. The theme was Olympia Goes Green in celebration of Earth Day. It was yet another zero waste event (something we're getting pretty good at downtown) and had quite a decent turnout. Several businesses were highlighted, including 510 Interiors, Eco-Lux, Radiance, Creative Office Supply and Casual Tee. 510 has made quite a name for themselves already, being honored at the Economic Development Coucil's annual business awards luncheon. Eco-Lux is on Washington St. had sells not only amazing organic body care products but also fantastic chocolate. Creative Office is a long-time downtown business and Casual Tee provides a highly needed service in a town like ours that prints more shirts per capita than we really need--environmentally (and economically!) friendly screen printing.

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Project: Transitions Strategic Planning Meeting

Monday, April 28th, 2008

At UCAN House 147 Rogers Street NW Olympia, WA 98502

Project: Transitions is a new Non Profit in the Olympia area. The aim of Project: Transitions is to provide support and assistance for transgender people living in the state of Washington.

If you are interested in trans rights and trans health, please come to this meeting and share your ideas, and get involved!

During this meeting we will plan for the future of Project: Transitions and open up positions for board membership.

There will be snacks!

(from PFLAG Olympia email list)

I stumbled across these animals walking past the Subway on State St.

One of my favorite bands REBECCA RIOTS is coming to Olympia again on their Northwest tour. If you get a chance to see them I recommend you do.

... They will be at The Artisan Café in Olympia this Sunday at 7:00 pm. ~ 109 N. Capitol Way. For info call 360-570-2202

Read more on this band, including links to music clips, on Inside the Outsider.

Think of all the local people you've seen performing at the Capitol Theater. Who did you think was most likely to become famous? Who did you think was the most likely to hang out with Kate Moss? I am so cynical about celebrity, I'm not sure I expected anyone to ever "make it big," but if anyone deserved to, it's Beth Ditto! She is a mesmerizing performer. She has been all over MTV, and even dressed up and played David Letterman's show recently. Boy, she sure does that same song, "Standing in the Way of Control" a lot, doesn't she? Apparently it's about the way conservative politicians oppose gay marriage, although if you examine the lyrics, they're kind of vague. I've seen her do it better than she did it on Letterman. Well, the best time was live, backstage at the Capitol, but that's not on youtube.

So glad she had a chance to develop as a performer in fabulous downtown Olympia, before any pesky noise ordinance limited that kind of opportunity. Go Beth!

OLYMPIA- The Volunteer Center of Lewis, Mason and Thurston Counties has sent out nearly 2,000 invitations to flood rescue and recovery volunteers who have helped out to a party in their honor on April 29. But any volunteer who helped with flood rescue or recovery is welcome to attend, and he or she may not know that the deadline for RSVPs is Friday.

Help us get the word out to these valuable volunteers. The celebration is from 5 to 7 p.m. April 29 in the Blue Pavilion at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds, 2555 North National Ave., Chehalis.

The event includes appetizers, refreshments, keepsakes and a thank you message from local families helped during and after the flood. And the event is free thanks to sponsorship by Weyerhaeuser and supporting sponsorship by TransAlta.

All a volunteer needs to do to attend is RSVP by phone to 360-741-2615 or by e-mail at events@volunteer.ws by Friday.

The Center is a non-profit organization that boasts over 500 volunteer opportunities to choose from across the county. Find out how you can change the world. There’s still time to get involved with local disaster relief efforts visit www.volunteer.ws

Contact: Sara Ballard
Phone 360-741-2625
Cell Phone: 360- 480-9571

Oh.

A dog smoking a cigarette.

I wish I could say, "Now there's something you don't see everyday."

But I can't.