Posted on 11/07/2004 7:14:51 AM PST by ambrose
Posted on Sun, Nov. 07, 2004
BUSH'S WIN ADDS TO SEATTLE'S GLOOM
MOOD-CRUSHING WINTERTIME ARRIVES, AND JOLT OF COFFEE MAY NOT HELP
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post
SEATTLE - It has been a SAD week in Seattle, city of rain, darkness, caffeine, secularism and an 82 percent majority that voted in vain to fire President Bush.
SAD, as just about everybody here knows, is an acronym for seasonal affective disorder, the mood-crushing curse of wintertime existence in the northernmost major U.S. city in the Lower 48. An estimated 20 to 30 percent of residents experience some degree of the disorder, which researchers believe is triggered by the body's reaction to reduced natural light. Symptoms include sadness, irritability, gluttony, weight gain, menstrual difficulties and interpersonal strain.
As expected, suffering began last Sunday, with the end of daylight-saving time. Like a guillotine blade, darkness fell at 5 in the afternoon. It was the pitiless annual reminder that by midwinter, there would barely be eight hours of daylight, almost all of it sponged up by thick blankets of concrete-colored clouds that, on average, squat over Seattle 226 days a year.
The next day, election eve, it rained hard. The wind blew, roofs leaked, basements flooded and Seattle seemed to slip irretrievably into the dank funk that has given birth to the SAD resistance movement, otherwise known as excessive caffeine consumption. That movement gave birth to Starbucks and scores of other, lesser-known local purveyors of overpriced coffee.
-snip-
As election returns sank in, the city's seasonal slough of despond seemed to deepen. A local public radio talk show kicked off a lugubrious afternoon of post-election whining with a saxophone solo of ``Am I Blue?'' Several callers said they would be moving to nearby British Columbia.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
It's easy to pass laws and be "tolerant" of People Of Color WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE ANY!
It's easy to be "compassionate" with social programs WHEN NO ONE CAN AFFORD TO LIVE THERE!!
The danker the mood in Seattle, the brighter it is in the other parts of America.
Thanks, Seattle, for making it possible for us normal-folk to be so happy today.
Or as they say in Philly, the closer the BONE, the sweeter the MEAT.
And the voters in Seattle certainly got BONED.
Believe you mean the "convergent" or "convergence" zone.
A double shot of Starbucks espresso should do the trick for 'em...that and an immigration application to Canada.
This is the city that has this statue of Lenin.
I'd say that was a better description as well. Stay safe in the big city and if things get ugly you are always welcome here. Our neighbors are all Christians and all voted for Bush, but we only have 5 or so of them. We're out by Black Diamond.
I lived in the Seattle area (Redmond) for seven years. Those "bright" days last for about 2 weeks in July :) Of course, when there is a sunny day in Seattle, it's the most beautiful place in the world. Snowcapped volcanoes in almost every direction. The only saving grace for the long, ugly winters is that you can go skiing in 45 minutes.
I always recommend to everyone I know (I live in north GA now) to go visit Seattle at least once in the summer. There's nothing like walking up Mt Rainier to the snow in the summer, seeing a Killer whale pod slide by the ferry, and the bald eagles. Quite a "wow" factor.
What a beautiful sunny day it was in Seatlle on Nov 3rd.
:-)
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