NYT: “The Israeli military unit overseeing aid entry to [Gaza], known as COGAT, said all crossings into Gaza have been closed until further notice as part of “security adjustments” following today’s escalation. That includes the Rafah crossing, a lifeline that reopened earlier this month.”

לא למלחמה نه به جنگ لا للحرب No to war

We’re number one! “Once the largest employer, public or private, Amazon is now behind the University of Washington, which has 50,316 employees in Seattle, according to the school.”

Go to home of a colleague with same age kid who is far more sedate than my kid. My kid immediately starts jumping on the couch. Other kid “don’t jump on the couch. It could break.” My kid, “so where should I jump”?

Cargo bike life: groceries, library trip, no problem

SOTU/STFU

Podcast rec. Beginning with a deceptively simple q: why are the Abraham Accords named after Abraham? – this series is a tour of geopolitics, theology, pop culture, & anthropological theory that picks up on old Abe as both a universal symbol & the ancestor of two peoples: the Arabs & the Jews.

What a lovely idea! Wallingford, Seattle

I mean, who doesn’t like to draw golf courses?

Don’t call me a liberal

Building gumdrop structures with Society of Women Engineers on Engineering Day at Pacific Science Center Seattle

This one surprised me. It isn’t even the name of a foreign food commonly consumed by anglophones or an obscure scientific term.

Animals

Natural phenomena to fear

Taiga is a perfect name for someone engaged in snow sports!

Values to live by, courtesy of the kid

It’s really quite mind blowing that wealthy parents are avoiding public school and paying big bucks to send kids to private school to avoid all the screens. Technology has gone from a prestige item to the slop thrown to the masses who can’t afford better. (Parent of a public school kid here).

The NYT spelling bee creators need a stiff drink (ARAK also not in word list)

Snoqualmie snow tubing + lake Sammamish sunny mild beach, within 40 min drive of each other. Love the Seattle life.

Asa Whitney, railroad entrepreneur, phrenologically blessed (NW Railway Museum, North Bend, WA)

Real sweet of NYT spelling bee to include UNLOVED (pangram) and DELUDED the day before Valentine’s Day. (Yesterday’s puzzle—does that make it ok for me to post today? Feel free to run me out of town on a rail if not).

This corner of BC reflects several news stories today

What am I missing here? These are cars pointing uphill. Shouldn’t the instruction be to turn wheels away from curb?

Ugh no bike/scooter share in Tacoma. Would have definitely been the best way for me to get from Amtrak station at Tacoma Dome to my destination, but alas. Lyft it is. (Yes there’s a transit option but takes way longer than a bike would).

Kid is insisting that we build a (model) “sewer system” in our home out of paper towel tubes. Was deeply taken by noticing the manholes on streets everywhere, and is now bothered that Google earth does not include views underground.

Amtrak telling passengers boarding at Seattle tomorrow to allow TWO EXTRA HOURS to reach station because of Seahawks parade impacts.

I picked a good day to take a train to Tacoma. Good thing I don’t intend to use a car!

Message from Seattle Public Schools re Seahawks victory parade Wednesday

Bad Bunny has a consulting historian. news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...

Really there’s no reason why the Super Bowl should be an evening event east coast time. The 3:30 kick off time on the west coast makes far more sense and could very easily be earlier for west coast and earlier for everyone.

Another important contribution to building up the library of Palestinian primary sources available in English translation

Some things kid knows he is not supposed to say

Just imagining anyone talking about boys as “underage men” highlights how absurd the phrase “underage women” is.

How about we nationalize health care first

Loving the reviews

People (in general, not just Gen Z) are stupid

Just eating up all these delightfully cruel and acerbic reviews of the Melania pic

Montlake Branch will now be open 7 days a week (Mondays now too) which is great news for UW-area folks who don’t have access to the University Branch while it is closed for construction.

And here I was thinking, look at me, the humanist, knowing some physics things

“Guzman was driving his son to day care before work when 4 unmarked vehicles surrounded his car, blocking 2 lanes of Aurora Ave. near N. 163rd Street. Masked and armed federal agents emerged and arrested Guzman. They left his 2-year-old son sitting alone in the back seat for about 40 minutes.”

Kid wrote that he’s going on a “feel trip” with school. I like that coinage.

I’ve spent enough time in the periodontist’s chair to be peeved by this

Yes! “Scarecrow's archive contains nearly 155,000 titles — roughly eight times more than all major streaming services combined — representing 138 countries and 126 languages. Many will never be available digitally, according to the organization.”

These poor business owners

A Seahawk (aka Osprey) is, per Wikipedia, “a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range.” Pretty good description of Seattlites.

No ICE just WATER. We’re All Together Embodying Resistance.

The public library was the internet before the internet, the place of knowledge exchange and gathering. As the internet becomes increasingly toxic, abusive, and slop-filled, the public library shines even brighter.

This headline is evergreen. It just keeps being true, again and again

And that’s it, that’s all it takes to shift a white man into the column of “enemy of the state”

Signal, Bluesky, and fb messenger having nearly the exact same color icon continues to flummox me