There is an alien world in western Wallingford.

Co-writer/director team Chris Caldwell and Zeek Earl, along with producer Brice Budke, created Prospect, a short film that was well-received at SXSW back in 2014. Encouraged, they captured funding from  Bron Studios in Canada to turn it into a full-length feature film starring Sophie Thatcher, Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, Narcos), Jay Duplass (Search Party, Transparent).

They searched a wide area for a space to create their workshop and studio in but ended up finding a large open space with clear span (and a difficult to find one …

There’s a sweet little sign where 2nd Ave NE doglegs around NE 42nd Street: Word of the Week.

On it, woodworker and furniture maker Jonathan Cohen inks a fun and interesting word each week (or so), chosen both for its rarity in common use and its visual beauty. The words are written in an elegant calligraphy, and Jonathan described himself as having a particular affinity for the letter G.

Long-time Wallingford neighbors know it’s been around for a long time, and has moved around some over those years. Jonathan made the sign and started the tradition back in 1983, and …

Happy Halloween!

For those of you new to the neighborhood, the answer to your question is “Yes, kids do trick-or-treat.” That said, it’s a bit hit-or-miss whether they will trick-or-treat at your house. I live over by the John Stanford School on 4th Ave NE, and we’re lucky if we get a half dozen groups of trick-or-treaters throughout the night. If you go two blocks to our west, though, they’re out in droves.

If you’ve got kids and are wondering where to go, I hear the folks at 42nd and Woodland Park Ave have a War of the Worlds theme …

After years of keeping tabs on who’s parking where, taking public input and performing whatever other arcane bits of kabbalah go into such decisions, the city has released its final decision on the updated restricted zone parking zones for Wallingford, and it differs from the map they presented back in April for public input.

As before, the streets coming off of 45th near the now defunct Guild 45th theatre will no longer be RPZ. One interesting change (for me!) is that Latona through 5th Ave NE below 42nd (near the John Stanford School) will now be included in the new …

This past Thursday, Todd Bol, the founder of the Little Free Library movement, passed away at the age of 62, just a month after receiving his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

I don’t know when they first took root in Wallingford (although Kimberly wrote about hers here back in 2012), but they’ve been a pleasant addition to my neighborhood strolls (and my bedside table) for at least half a decade.

In his honor, I hopped on my bike Saturday afternoon and took a slow loop through the neighborhood, photographing each library I passed. Given how the philosophy of giving without expecting …

Jeff Garfield, owner of Bedrooms and More gave me a sneak peek tour of the new building they’re putting up at the corner of NE 45th and 4th Ave NE and, while it is actually pretty incredible, and will serve well, I believe, as the northwest corner of the Gateway to Wallingford, it was something Jeff told me about their existing store, half a block to the west, that amazed me the most.

Bedrooms and More has occupied the same spot since 1972, but they knocked down their original building in February, 1986. In July 1986, they opened the doors …

“Nickelsville came about in response to the sweeps of encampments ordered by former Mayor Greg Nickels [2002 – 2010]. After six months of  organizing Nickelsville set up on an unused piece of city owned land on West Marginal Way on September 22, 2008. That afternoon the encampment was posted with notifications that it would be swept.  Five days later several dozen homeless people and their allies were arrested.  Nickelsville immediately set up on an adjacent state owned parking lot. Governor Gregoire allowed Nickelsville to remain long enough to find a new location. ”
– Nickelsville History

It’s been ten years …