There is a point in many men’s lives when they hunger for things they do not have -and perhaps never had: enthralled younger women, tight abs, money, fast cars and no responsibilities ( Read more... )

A condemned park sprawls in disrepair on the steep incline west of St. Mark’s Cathedral. It has become overgrown with brambles and nothing human has an easy time with the eroded paths and clutter of vines. Sometimes the homeless will set up shelter there: it is quiet and secure because it is so hard to traverse ( Read more... )

On the waterfront of Lake Union, down among some warehouses, is a tiny sushi place. It has no tables, just a coatroom and a small bar, and only three people can sit in the place at a time. Everyone comes in alone-it would not occur to you to invite company ( Read more... )

A shop in the renovated downtown of Ballard -former warehouse buildings living new brick lives as artists’ studios and loft apartments- sells only paper. Gift cards and wrapping paper, of course, but at the back of the shop is a wall of paper replicas: food, currency, houses, cars, passports, people and even miniature office cubicles complete with ( Read more... )

At transit stops from the east end of the Pine-Pike corridor to the waterfront, commuters occasionally encounter an unmarked black book that fits pleasantly in the hand. A pen is always taped across the cover with dirty scotch tape. The book is unlined and the front is filled with pages of hand-inked and annotated transit maps. They include many ( Read more... )

A delivery van is sometimes spotted offloading in alleyways in the old parts of downtown and around Capitol Hill. It is a generic van, off-white, with tinted windows on the cab and some markings that indicate affiliation with a medical concern ( Read more... )

In 1889, the Great Seattle Fire destroyed a huge swatch of the young town. During the rebuilding, the streets were lined with concrete walls and new buildings of brick and stone were assembled stories above them on re-graded streets. The Underground was condemned just decades later and now only parts of it are accessible, mostly to tourists and ( Read more... )