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I did the First Thursday Art Walk tonight with my friend Kaitlin and her friend Sabrina. We visited galleries in the Pioneer Square/International District area. Many galleries throughout the downtown Seattle core participate in the Art Walk, as does the Seattle Art Museum (SAM). Admission to SAM is free on first Thursdays. Galleries showcase new exhibitions; some offer snacks and drinks; you may be able to meet featured artists, or enjoy some live music.

Here are some scenes from Pioneer Square tonight.

Other neighborhoods have different schedules for their Art Walks. In Ballard, we have the Second Saturday Artwalk. Greenwood and Phinney Ridge have the Second Friday ArtWalk.

Any art walk, on any day of any month, is an excellent opportunity for people-watching.

My friend K and I took a ferry trip today from downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island (and back). It was a pleasant way to spend a rainy Monday.

Once on Bainbridge, we walked from the ferry terminal down along Winslow Way West.

Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day from this hip dude:

We ate lunch at Emmy’s VegeHouse, a little shack at 100 Winslow Way West. Emmy’s menu is completely vegan. K, who is not vegan or vegetarian and doesn’t like fake meats, had soft tofu with veggies (item S6 on the menu). I don’t usually like soft tofu, but K offered to let me try it, so I did. The soft tofu that Emmy’s uses was fresh and delicious. I had the “chicken” (wheat gluten) with veggies (item S7). Tasty food at a reasonable price.

Then we wandered around a bit more on our way back to the ferry dock.

I took a few bike-related photos for The Boyfriend.

The Bainbridge Island Bike Barn, located right by the ferry terminal, provides lockers and bike hooks for commuters:

The Chilly Hilly, Cascade Bicycle Club’s annual ride to get bikers in gear for biking season, was yesterday (Feb. 22, 2009):

The B.I.Cycle Shop is located at 124 Bjune Drive SE:

The Seattle skyline, as seen from the ferry heading back to Seattle:

And this last image has nothing to do with Bainbridge. This is the Pioneer Building at 1st Ave. and Yesler Way.

Back downtown, I waited for the bus at a stop near here. I’ve always liked the different exterior colors and textures of this building.

That’s art made with flashlights; not artsy flashlights.

Photographer/artist Michael Bosanko creates “light graffiti” using flashlights, a digital camera, and long exposure times.

Check out this article in London’s Mail Online for more info and some great photos.

Bosanko also has his own Web site.

Relax, observe and allow.

(Spoken by a 20- or 30-something guy talking on his cell phone. Overheard while I was strolling through Ballard on a warm, sunny, late winter/early spring day in February.)

The Boyfriend (TB) and I had lunch today at In the Bowl Vegetarian Noodle Bistro. It was our first time there, but the restaurant has been around since some time in 2006.

Aptly name, In the Bowl offers all-vegetarian “Asia Pleasure” cuisine with a wide variety of noodle dishes. Our waitress assured me (twice) that everything is vegan.

The menu has several sections or “episodes”: Starters (appetizers), salad, soup, noodles, curry, fried rice, stir fry, accompany (side dishes), and, of course, beverages (non-alcoholic). The noodle, curry, fried rice, and stir fry episodes all come with dessert. Main dishes offer a choice of fresh tofu, fried tofu, or fake meat — chicken, beef, prawns, fish, or duck. Many of the noodle dishes have several noodles options to choose from — wide rice, small rice, tiny rice and bean vermicelli, clear mung bean, chow mein, or udon.

TB and I started with Thai Iced Tea and the Full-Filled Your Dreams appetizer — deep fried wonton wrappers filled with “meat” paste and vegan cream cheese, accompanied by sweet & sour sauce.

For a main dish, TB had the Tokyo Noodle: Udon noodles with ginger teriyaki sauce, carrot, green onion, bok choy, and cabbage with “chicken.” I had the the Yellow Curry Noodle Soup: Coconut milk, yellow curry paste, herbs & spices, cabbage, carrot, and potato with wide rice noodles and fried tofu.

The dessert was black sticky rice and corn, covered in a large dollop of coconut sauce.

TB and I both recommend In the Bowl and will definitely go back and try some other dishes. Delicious food, reasonable portion sizes, fast and friendly service, moderate prices (approximately $32 before tip).

A few important notes:
1. In the Bowl has signs on the walls warning that their spice scale is “hotter than usual” and you should take that into consideration when ordering. If you send food back because it’s too spicy, you’ll be charged for the “old” food and the replacement. TB and I were both happy with the spice levels for our food. TB enjoys spicy food and usually asks for spicy or very spicy (4 or 5 stars). I, however, am a spice wimp. TB ordered his Tokyo Noodle medium so that I could try it. Usually, “medium” means TB can’t even taste the spices, but this time he could. I tried a bite of TB’s dish and while I didn’t need a fire extinguisher, I don’t think I could have eaten very much at that spice level. I asked for mild (1 star) for my Yellow Curry Noodle Soup; it was very flavorful and not too spicy.
2. The restaurant is very small, with seating for about 20 people (8 tables seating 2 people each, plus 3 or 4 seats at the counter).
3. The most important note: Where to find them. In the Bowl is in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood at 1554 East Olive Way (the former Coffee Messiah location, if you were familiar with that place). Phone: 206-568-2343 or 206-860-4166. Hours: Noon – 9:30 p.m. every day. They don’t seem to have a Web site.

Happy Noodle Year!

And now, for your viewing pleasure (OK, really for my pleasure): A hovering hummingbird.

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Hummingbirds aren’t the only birds that come to my deck. I also receive occasional* visits from at least three gorgeous, bright-blue birds. They look like this:

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I think they’re Western scrub jays. Or Aphelocoma californica as they’re known in Wikipedia. In describing the appearance of these birds, the Wikipedia article (as retrieved on 12/23/08) refers to the birds’ “grayish underparts.” (Bird bloomers?) I’ve never heard/seen “underpants” used before to describe a bird. Too funny!

*The frequency of the visits increases in direct proportion to the amount of nuts left on the garden table or balcony railing.

It’s snowing in the Seattle area today, and this poor hummingbird has not migrated to a warmer climate. First shot is a close-up of the bird; second shot shows the snow, with the bird at the top left.

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The Ballard Locks (a.k.a. the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks) are currently closed for annual cleaning and maintenance. And the lock that’s drained stinks. Of fish and barnacles, to be precise.

The grounds are open, but the actual locks are closed to boats until Dec. 7. You can read more about it here.

A display window at Archie McPhee. Currently in Ballard, Archie McPhee is moving to Wallingford some time next year. You can read about it here (or do a Google search for “archie mcphee moving to wallingford” and see what else comes up).