in addition to the Seattle P-I, the hearst corporation may be shutting the San Francisco Chronicle as well...

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE51O03Y20090225

i'm working at tully's this morning, as usual. the guy at the table next to me is telling his friend about his band, and was just listing off the cities they visited on their recent first mini-tour:

"Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Las Vegas, LA, and Canada."

reminds me of a girl from NYC i knew freshman year in college. when she arrived at school (an ivy league university, mind you), she thought illinois was the capital of chicago.

i kid you not.

i just found out today that Horizon Books -- the used bookstore up on 15th ave -- is closing. i enjoy browsing in there now and again, so i was sad to hear they'll soon be gone... the guy said by the end of this month, most likely.

i picked up a few cheap japanese books today...

[i don't know if i've mentioned it on lj before, but i studied japanese for three years in college, and spent two months there studying and traveling in the summer of 1986, between my junior and senior years. i was pretty conversational at one point, but i've lost most of that over the years. every now and again, i pull the old books out and brush up on it a bit -- not only to increase my skill, but also because i find it's a good brain exercise.]

...and i wanted to share one that i was particularly pleased about:



the book of mormon in japanese. it's actually a good practice book, because it's got furigana for all the kanji (so that everyone can share in the word, no doubt).

( click here for a look inside and an oddly homoerotic picture of jesus... )

 
turns out Bravo's Top Chef was in town yesterday, interviewing potential contestants for the show's next season:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/399687_topchef12.html

looking for an apartment in seattle, or know someone looking for an apartment in seattle?

there are two units coming open in my building. i've been quite happy here, and would definitely recommend it.

let me know if you need more details.

seattle had a magnitude 4.5 earthquake at 5:25 this morning... it was centered 14 miles NW of the city. apparently it woke a lot of people up, but i apparently slept through it, which is weird, considering how badly i usually sleep!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_seattle_quake.html