We will have a new display of work from Seattle artist Kate Endle beginning on November 7, 2008. Join us for your first peek during First Friday from 5-9pm.

Her collages and illustrations have made their way into a variety of publications, books and media including The Utne Reader, Sesame Street Workshop, Macy's & Yamaha to name a few. Her work could be seen most recently hanging at Anthropologie in Seattle.

Original work as well as prints will be available for purchase at Home Body, Eco-Luxe Living through December 2008.

Hi! I would like to draw attention to this post that didn't make the front page due to technical reasons. Please support the Olympia Film Society!

Free movies!

Lemon-Violet Sorbet

1 1/2 cups agave nectar
1 1/2 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 Tablespoons lemon zest
1 cup fresh violet flowers, plus more for garnish

1. Bring 1 cup water, agave nectar, and lemon juice to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat, and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and cool completely.

2. Stir in zest. Transfer to ice cream maker, and process according to ice cream maker instructions.

3. Stir in violet flowers just after processing. Serve in small bowls, and garnish with additional flowers.

Agave Syrup can be purchased in bulk at the Olympia Food Coop. I'm not sure where to get the violets...any suggestions?

Photo by dreamsjung via flickr:

The Capitol Theater downtown recently got some nice paint splashed upon it following the tear down of the old (yet dangerous to people) marquee. 

The marquee removal and the painting were taken care of by a local company, Olympia Construction, owned by brothers Mike and Dan Auderer.

Like a lot of people who grew up in Olympia, both Mike and Dan have fond memories of the theater. Dan took dozens of trips to the Capitol Theater as part of the Junior Programs... uh... program in elementary school.

Choosing the colors was an important step. "We hired a designer that used a palate of original colors for historic theaters," Dan said this morning.

The paint job will be extended to the building next door where the Tea Lady is housed, which is owned by the same person.

The entire painting project took four days, with yesterday spent cleaning the graffiti off the terra cotta window wrappings.  "A lot of people think that the windows are marble, but its actually terra cotta on the window wraps," Dan said.

"The building's owner is really motivated, he's passionate about the theater," Dan said. "He's been down to some OFS events and sees how many people enjoy it, so that's why he's doing cleaning up the building."

A new marquee and awning for the building are in the works. The possible new marquee with have to be custom fabricated and will be a replica of the orignal one.

Last night I attended the quarterly membership meeting of the ODA. The theme was Olympia Goes Green in celebration of Earth Day. It was yet another zero waste event (something we're getting pretty good at downtown) and had quite a decent turnout. Several businesses were highlighted, including 510 Interiors, Eco-Lux, Radiance, Creative Office Supply and Casual Tee. 510 has made quite a name for themselves already, being honored at the Economic Development Coucil's annual business awards luncheon. Eco-Lux is on Washington St. had sells not only amazing organic body care products but also fantastic chocolate. Creative Office is a long-time downtown business and Casual Tee provides a highly needed service in a town like ours that prints more shirts per capita than we really need--environmentally (and economically!) friendly screen printing.

Read more...

The PBIA will be holding a regular business meeting tomorrow, Thursday April 10th from 6-8pm in the MIXX 96 conference room (located on Washington St. betwen 4th and State). There is time made for public comment at the beginning of the meeting. Ratepayers as well as other interested parties are encouraged to attend. Download the agenda here (doc). (Inconsequential note: I won't be there to chair because I'm going to see CHRIS ROCK. I won't tell you where my seats are cause ya'll will be jealous. The multi-talented Terry Z. from Espresso Parts will be filling in.)

Sunny Tree Market has marked its vegetarian cookbook collection down to 50% original price. I bought 20 Minutes to Dinner by Bryanna Clark Grogan. Sunny Tree Market is at 131 Decatur Street, NW. Recipe follows:

I'm starting a separate thread because a discussion about the actual proposed PBIA budget, I believe, is important. However, the title of Emmett's post is misleading and a mistake made by many.