FOOD ORGY: Get thee to the Seattle Center this weekend for the annual Bite of Seattle. Over a hundred booths, multiple beer gardens, cooking demos, live entertainment... all in the name of of good, local eating? Sounds like a great weekend event to us! Take advantage of the Just A Bite area, offering mini versions of local restaurant specialties for $3.75 a serving. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri & Sat; 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun // Seattle......

Last Friday we were at Shorecrest High School after-hours for "Coffeehouse," an open-mic put on by the school's literary journal Tattoo. It was our second time around, so we had a better idea of what to expect: the cafeteria was packed to the rafters. Seriously, Friday night and this is what the kids of today are up to? Near the end of intermission we were looking over the art gallery in the hall when this......

Tonight local "urban folkster" Ali Marcus celebrates the release of her fourth album, The Other Side, at the Rendezvous' Jewelbox Theater. The intimate venue will be the perfect setting for dear Ali's sweet voice, and the party's sponsored by the Hopvine, where Ali's been a prominent Wednesday night open mic performer for nearly three years already. This is her last show in town for a while, as right after the big party, she'll be......

Monday THAT STARBUCKS "I WAS A CHILD SOLDIER" GUY: At twelve, Ishmael Beah found himself fleeing rebels, wandering from village to village. At thirteen, he was a soldier in Sierra Leone, hooked on drugs and capable of things he would never have imagined. Now, rehabilitated and living in the U.S., he tells his story in A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, in an attempt to raise awareness of the child soldier......

Sports: The Sonics are 6-9, on a two game losing streak, and everybody's fighting. The Orlando Magic are 11-4, have won their last four, feature Dwight Howard, and come from some place very warm! What's not to love? Tip-off is right when the next snowstorm is supposed to hit. Worth risking your life for? Yes! 7:00pm // Key Arena // tickets Books, or something similar: Elliott Bay Books has their monthly open mic night......

As avid folk music connoisseurs, we’ve done our time in various Unitarian churches listening to obscure out-of-towners mouth off about Bush in the nicest possible (read: no cursing) sort of way. But for the past couple of years, a small venue on Capitol Hill has been integrating The Lord with great music and free coffee on a whole different level. You’ve probably stumbled past On The House on your way home from the Wildrose or......

Everyone who writes from time to time has a few pieces of work that should never see the light of day. Well, that's about to change. Tomorrow evening, Seattle will bear witness to the Salon of Shame, a take-off on NYC's Cringe reading nights, wherein people dig deep into their repertoires and voluntarily disclose embarrassing things they've written. Y'know, the sort of things where you might not be able to make eye contact with the......

Richard Hugo is possibly White Center's most famous son. That's saying....something. He was, like, a writer guy or something. Anyway, he has this house up on Capitol Hill where they talk about writing a lot and teach people how to do it and stuff. Something like that. So you writer types know who you are. You need to go to some of these events. Seattlest has read your work and believe us, go. Here's what......