Search

Immortal Girl Genius! $107.00 bid now!

Slog

News & Arts

Line Out

Music & Nightlife

« Savage Love Letter of the Day | Why Did the State Release the Viadu… »

Monday, October 26, 2009

City / Books You Belong to the City

Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 4:44 PM

Last night, dozens of people smooshed into 1st & Pike News to celebrate the 30th anniversary of one of Seattle’s only newsstands. On one wall, there was a big stack of free Seattle Times t-shirts (untouched, of course) with a rapidly dwindling pile of Seattle Post-Intelligencer shirts right next to it. Further down, a table covered with delicious cupcakes, coffee, and a large sheet cake blocked entry into the rest of the Pike Place Market—nothing else in the Market (hell, practically nothing else downtown) was open late on a Sunday.

I recognized a bunch of old-school Seattle print media figures, many of whom were wearing pointy caps made of folded newspapers, but the scene was as diverse as downtown Seattle. Homeless people mingled, munching on a baked good or two and drinking free champagne. A couple of young anarchists sipped from cans of Bud on the sidewalk. Someone shouted “Captain CAAAAAAAAAAAVE-maaaaan” over and over again as he struggled through the ocean of bodies.

A busker played rockabilly on guitar, and a man who appeared to have grown fully-formed out of a mossy forest floor made balloon animals for the revelers. A newsstand, it turns out, is the perfect place for a party; all those glossy, happy people on the covers of the magazines add to the bouncy vibe. One bearded man, who seemed to be on a first-name basis with everyone at the party, wobbled on his feet, walked half a block away and slumped in a doorway, having found his home for the night. He looked really comofrtable.

Share via

Comments (3) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

I'd think about cutting that last sentence, Paul Bobby.

Posted by meowmeowkitty on October 26, 2009 at 4:53 PM

I spent the night alone in my basement, ordering a Nook.

Posted by Geeko Basemental on October 26, 2009 at 4:57 PM

A gin drunk; melancholy, dysphoric, redundant, chatty, hard to get over. The room isn't so much spinning as it is hula-ing under a strobe light. How low can you go? Take that Mika.

Posted by Brendan T on October 27, 2009 at 1:00 AM