Patrick, Author at Wallyhood

Banjo, The Professor, and your Kids!

Patrick May 4, 2010 5 Comments

Okay, let’s get the banjo jokes out of the way first:

Q: How do you tune a banjo?
A: Everybody yells the answer: “Who cares!”

Q: What’s perfect pitch?
A: Tossing a banjo into the toilet without hitting the rim!

Okay, enough already. Despite the fun to be had making fun of the banjo (don’t get me started on flute jokes) it’s a terrific instrument. It can be fun, mournful, cheerful, sad.

Love classical music? Check out Bela Fleck’s “Perpetual Motion” CD – gorgeous classical music on the banjo. Prefer your banjo a little more folky? Pete Seeger has anchored…

The Shoe Tree of Wallingford

Patrick April 28, 2010 8 Comments

There are as many answers to “why are there shoes in trees” are there are, well, shoes in trees. I spotted this Shoe Tree of Wallingford just yesterday:

(Bagley and 40th)

Maybe it’s all of the caffeinated people from Irwin’s. Perhaps it’s the folks on the way back from Durn Good, celebrating snagging that last block of ice, or that 6-pack of Guinness. Or maybe, as Snopes.com suggests, there isn’t a right answer, just a lot of possible answers!

Are there other shoe trees of Wallingford? Send along a note and we’ll investigate!…

The Burke Gilman Gets Marked!

Patrick April 12, 2010 2 Comments

True confession: Back in the day when I lived on Capitol Hill and ran down to catch the Burke Gilman near Husky Stadium, I occasionally brought my bike and a small can of spray paint. See – GPS wasn’t really available, and if I REALLY wanted to know my distance, or to measure my progress week by week – I needed to know the distance from one mile to the next. Bike – check. Bike computer – check. Spray paint – check. No one looking – check!

And I’d paint a little circle right there on the trail! Well – …

Wallingford Talks!

Patrick April 3, 2010 Comments are off

If you haven’t spent time poking around the Wallyhood Forums, you should. Head on up the the page there, that’s right – just next to the home button, and click!

Our community is chatting a fair bit – here are some recent highlights:

People Living in Vehicles: Want to know the Seattle regs about what vehicles can park where? This conversation has been going on for 2 months! Dogs on the Playfield: This is great – a long conversation about dogs, humans, parks, rules. Not All of Us are Armed: Whoa – this covers crime, homelessness, and posters on poles!…

Irwin’s – Wallingford’s Economic Engine of Tasty Goodness

Patrick March 9, 2010 13 Comments

Irwin’s was a life saver when my wife and I first moved to Wallingford last summer. It’s not too far from our house –and anyone that’s moved knows that a good cup of coffee and something (like a delicious baked good) to get the muscles moving are important ingredients in getting settled in a new house and neighborhood.

On top of that – I work from home – and I NEEDED internet access right away. I was the shabbily dressed guy huddled outside Irwin’s at all hours, using the free wireless access to keep busy at work!

Irwin’s has history …

Seattle Red Dress Run

Patrick February 15, 2010 Comments are off

(This Saturday, the Hash House Harriers, a group of “drinkers with a running problem”, held their annual Red Dress Run, culminating in Gas Works Parks. Veteran Harrier and Wallyhood writer Patrick Shaw went along the job.)

I sneaked out of the house with my red dress tucked up under my tee-shirt – my wife didn’t think that the new neighbors should see me sporting a spaghetti strap dress and running shoes this early in their tenure here in Wallingford!

The Red Dress Run was hilarious – I jogged down to Gasworks park to find close to 60 men and women …

Linda Waterfall and the “Keep Wallingford Dull” Society

Patrick February 11, 2010 1 Comment

(Wallyhood welcomes our newest contributing writer, Patrick Shaw)

My wife and I moved to Wallingford in August. As we were moving in, I had a flashback to hearing Linda Waterfall in concert at Seattle University. Her guitar player made a joke about moving to Wallingford and having to join the Keep Wallingford Dull Society, and as my wife and I were unpacking, I had a bad moment: It couldn’t be true, could it? Could Wallingford really be dull?

(Turns out – if you consider kind neighbors, a terrific local coffee shop (Irwin’s), a local market (Durn Good), and the …

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