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(Spotted in Fremont.)

Cool Coffee Shop
I read about the new Burien Press coffee shop a few weeks ago. Burien Press serves delicious Caffe Vita coffee, so I wanted to check them out … until I plugged my address and theirs into Yahoo Maps and found out they’re a 30-minute drive away. I can get delicious Caffe Vita coffee much closer to home. In fact, I can get it at home – that’s what I’m using to make my own cold-brewed coffee. (More on that another time. I know I’ve said that before, but I promise, I will write some time about my search for the perfect home-brewed cold brew.)

A couple of weeks after reading about Burien Press, I read about a sculpture currently being exhibited in Burien: A nude, squatting woman. And predictably, some people have their panties in a wad over the nudity and/or the squatting.

So last weekend, The Boyfriend (TB) and I took a short road trip to Burien.

Burien Press (423 SW 152nd St.), in addition to the fabulous coffee, has a funky, eclectic atmosphere.

And they have a lovely deck in the back:

(They also have a Web site, which, as of this writing, consists of the logo, name, and tag line. No hours, no phone number, no address.)

Naked Sculpture
The controversial sculpture, in the company of a variety of other sculptures, squats in the Burien/Interim Arts Space across 152nd St. and a courtyard from Burien Press.

The sculpture, by Seattle artist Michael McGrath, is very detailed and very realistic. Folds in the skin on her abdomen are clear; so are the muscles in her legs and the wrinkles in her ankles as she perches on the balls of her feet. One hand hangs casually, perhaps even modestly, in front of her crotch. I thought I saw evidence of sculpted pubic hair, but I really didn’t look that closely. Because it doesn’t matter. To make the determination whether she is completely anatomically correct, I think you would have to lie on the ground and place your head between her bronze legs. Or the artist would have to exhibit her on a pedestal, with the base of the sculpture at the “average” person’s eye level.

When I first saw a picture of this piece, I thought that the woman seemed to be focusing her gaze on something; TB said she appeared to be contemplating something. When I saw her in person, I thought she looked sad or in pain. From the perspective of standing behind her, she seems to be looking at two other figures – perhaps mother and daughter. Maybe the squatting woman is feeling regret over a strained relationship with her own mother or child, or maybe she’s feeling sad over the end of a relationship. Maybe she’s ill and in physical pain; looking at her back, her ribs are clearly visible, and she seems a bit too thin.

I think it’s sad that the power of this piece – the emotion, the detail – is being completely overlooked.

And to parents who are concerned about their kids seeing this sculpture: Hmm, maybe this is a good opportunity to teach your kids about nudity in an artistic context versus nudity in a sexual or inappropriate context; give your kids actual, age-appropriate information about nudity. And squatting. And art. (Yes, written by someone who does not and will not have kids.)

And by the way, whether you want to think about it or not, a teenager is probably more than capable of finding free p*rn, actual p*rn, on the Internet. And/or has found daddy’s stash of “girlie” magazines and/or DVDs.

Warning: The park in which the sculpture squats is located behind the library/city hall building. If you don’t know what a library is, it’s a collection of reference materials such as books. Books which may depict works of art, with or without nudity. Texts which may have drawings of the human anatomy, or detailed, medically accurate, non-judgmental information about sex.

And one last thing: What does your reaction to this sculpture say about you?

Ballard’s new condo* overlords must be really tiny, with extremely long legs. Here’s their altar:

*Photos taken behind Leva on Market, a new development of luxury apartments. It’s a common misconception that all of the mega residential buildings that have sprung up in Ballard over the past few years are condos. Technically, most if not all of the recent megaplexes (megaplices?**) are mixed-use, with retail/office and residential. But “Ballard welcomes our new mixed-use development overlords” doesn’t sound as good.

(**More than one index = indices.)

Photos taken at the Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Garden at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in beautiful Ballard (Seattle, WA):

Elsewhere in Ballard:

I like Arturo. And I like you guys. And Jimmy. And that’s it.

(Guy sitting outside the Ballard Tully’s, talking on his cell phone)

He hates everybody else on the planet.

Good news for vegetarians and vegans, courtesy of the Seattle Times: New label laws will say if food or cosmetics get color from a dead insect

Yahoo! Tech headline on March 27, 2009.

(*This post was previously titled “Subtlety.”)

A couple of days ago, I picked up a pound of Caffe Vita’s Theo Blend coffee. Even though I’m a dedicated label reader (due to my vegan-osity), I occasionally miss things. Case in point: I didn’t realize until I was putting my groceries away at home that this particular coffee is a blend of Caffe Vita coffee and Theo chocolate.

My friend Kaitlin and I had visited Theo’s factory/store in Fremont a year or so ago. From what I remember, Theo didn’t have much of a selection of vegan chocolates at that time, so I was concerned that the coffee might not be vegan.

I researched the product on both the Caffe Vita and Theo Web sites and didn’t find a detailed list of ingredients for either the coffee or the dark chocolate blended into it. So I sent an e-mail to Theo.

I received a response in less than 24 hours. According to Theo, Caffe Vita’s Theo Blend coffee is vegan and doesn’t contain chocolate; the name reflects a partnership between the two companies. This is also represented in the Theo’s Coffee Dark Chocolate bar, which is vegan and contains coffee from Caffe Vita.

The following Theo products are also vegan* although they might not be designated as vegan on the Web site:
* Theo Phinney Fig, Fennel & Almond bar
* Theo Origin Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Blended, Ghana and Venezuela bars
* The Classic Combination Mint, Orange and Cherry & Almond bars
* Theo/Nicobella truffles
* Theo dark chocolate is free of milk fat and other dairy ingredients

In addition, the person who responded to my inquiry (Dave) said to feel free to contact Theo with any further questions about any of their products. Also, from what I recall, the labels on the actual bars or boxes of chocolate list all of the ingredients.

* Disclaimer: Dave let me know that the vegan chocolates are processed on the same equipment that’s used to process the non-vegan products. However, the equipment is cleaned thoroughly between batches and it’s pretty likely that the vegan chocolates don’t pick up any trace non-vegan ingredients.

I haven’t tried the Theo Blend coffee yet … stay tuned …

Issues currently affecting America:
> Troops still in Iraq (since 2003).
> Credit crunch.
> Housing slump.
> High unemployment rate.
> Deep recession.

Our most pressing issue:
How we, as a nation, feel about our First Lady baring her arms and what, if anything, we need to do about it. I saw at least three headlines last week about this “controversy.” I just did a Google search for “Michelle Obama bare arms” and got 499,000 results. The New York Times today has an op/ed piece on this “issue.” Although, in her defense, columnist Maureen Dowd calls Michelle’s “sculpted biceps” a symbol of America’s strength.

I was talking with The Boyfriend about this, and he pointed out that Michelle Obama is not the only First Lady to bare arms; Jackie Kennedy occasionally did, way back in the 1960s.

President Barack Obama also created controversy recently when he was photographed in swimming trunks. On a beach. While he was on vacation. It’s not like he was sitting in the Oval Office, greeting foreign dignitaries while wearing nothing but a Speedo.

So, yeah. America clearly needs to do something about our swimsuit-wearing President and his bare-armed wife.