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Thursday/ who gets in— and how? 👨‍🎓

I’m still reading up about it— the US Supreme Court’s ruling today that effectively overturned decades of affirmative action precedents for admitting students to higher education.

David French writes in a NYT opinion piece titled ‘Harvard Undermined Itself on Affirmative Action’:
To understand why Harvard lost — and why race-based affirmative action in public colleges and federally funded private schools is now unlawful — it’s necessary to understand two key facts about the case. First, the evidence is overwhelming that Harvard actively discriminated against Asian applicants. As Chief Justice John Roberts notes in his majority opinion, a Black student in the fourth-lowest academic decile had a higher chance of admission to Harvard than an Asian student in the top decile.

Former President Barack Obama denounced the Supreme Court decision, while acknowledging that “Affirmative action was never a complete answer in the drive towards a more just society” in a blog post today.
Mr. Obama is pictured here in 1990 at Harvard Law School.
[Photo Credit: Joe Wrinn/Harvard University, via Getty Images]
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Wednesday/ what the hell 😡

I made it my after-dinner stroll to walk down to the QFC on Broadway to buy a bread.
From a block away I could see a commotion going on.

‘What’s going on?’ I asked someone coming from the store.
There were two guys arguing right next to him, he said.
Then one of them pulled out a gun and said to the other ‘Do you want to die?’.
At this point everyone got the hell away from them, and soon after that the store was evacuated.

I later learned that the gunman (age 42) then compounded the two very bad decisions he had already made— 1. bringing the gun into QFC and 2. brandishing it in public during a heated argument—
by holding eight people hostage at the Gold’s Gym next door.
Geez.
He surrendered to the police soon after that and is now in custody.

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Tuesday/ the colors of summer ☀️

Here’s a stunning lily flower that I found on my neighborhood walk tonight.

Lilium is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. (Day lilies belong to the genus Hemerocallis and are not in fact lilies).
I believe this lily hybrid is called Royal Sunset.
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Monday/ mail from New York City 📨

The stamps I had ordered from a seller in New York City, arrived in the mail. The sender put beautiful stamps from yesteryears on the envelope for me.
Might he have picked the 1934 violet stamp with Mt. Rainier on just for me, because I am in Washington State?
I’d like to think so 😉

Listed in year-of-issue sequence:
1934 National Parks Issue/ Mt. Rainier (one from a set of 10 stamps)
Unwatermarked, Perf. 11, Flat Plate printing
742 A241 3c deep violet, Aug.3 1934, Mt. Rainier and Mirror Lake (Washington State)
1954 Wheat Field and Pioneer Wagon Train
Unwatermarked, Perf. 11×10½, Rotary press printing, E.E. Plates* 
1061 A508 3c brown orange, May 31 1954
*Electric Eye, a machine that had photo-electric cells to properly center the images to reduce waste during the printing and perforation of stamps.
The machines were introduced in 1935 and used into the late 1950s, when USPS found new ways accurate for centering and perforation.
1954 George Eastman (American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream).
Unwatermarked, Perf. 10½x 11, Rotary press printing, E.E. Plates
1062 A509 3c violet brown, Jul.12 1954
1956 Benjamin Franklin (issued to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin).
Unwatermarked, Perf. 11×10½, Rotary press printing, E.E. Plates
1073 A520 3c bright carmine, Jan.17 1956, Franklin Taking Electricity From The Sky (stamp design by Benjamin West)
1956 Booker T. Washington (Centennial of the Birth of Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), black educator, founder and head of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama
Unwmk., Perf. 11×10½, Rotary press printing, E.E. Plates
1074 A521 3c deep blue, Apr.5 1956, Log Cabin (stamp design by Charles R. Chickering)
1958 Forest Conservation (issued to publicize forest conservation and the protection of natural resources, and to honor Theodore Roosevelt, a leading forest conservationist, on the centenary of his birth).
Perf. 11, Giori Press printing, Plates of 200 subjects in four panes of 50 each
1122 A567 4c green, yellow & brown, Oct. 27 1958
1962-66 Regular Series/ Andrew Jackson
Unwmk., Perf. 11×10½, Rotary Press printing, Plates of 400 subjects in four panes of 100 each
1209 A646 1c green, Mar.22 1963, Andrew Jackson (7th U.S. President), design by William K. Schrage
1963 John James Audubon 
Issued to honor John James Audubon (1785-1851), ornithologist and artist
Unwmk., Perf. 11, Giori Press printing, Plates of 200 subjects in four panes of 50 each
1241 A673 5c dark blue & multi-colored, Dec.7 1963, art titled “Columbia Jays” by Audubon (birds pictured are actually Collie’s magpie jays)
1973 Boston Tea Party (bicentennial of Boston Tea Party, designed by William A. Smith)
Perf. 11, Lithographed, Engraved printing, Plates of 200 subjects in four panes of 50 each
1480 A894 8c black & multi-colored, Jul.4 1973, British Merchantman
1481 A895 8c black & multi-colored, Jul.4 1973, British Three-master
1482 A896 8c black & multi-colored, Jul.4 1973, Boats and Ship’s Hull
1483 A897 8c black & multi-colored, Jul.4 1973, Boats and Dock
[Information from Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps, 1989]
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Sunday/ at the Pride parade 🌈

Here are a few pictures of Seattle’s 49th annual Seattle Pride Parade along 4th Avenue in downtown.
That’s Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell in the middle of the first picture.

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Happy Pride Weekend 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

If you’re going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you’re going to San Francisco
You’re gonna meet some gentle people there
– From the song “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” written by John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas, and sung by Scott McKenzie. It was written and released in June 1967 to promote the Monterey Pop Festival.

Happy Friday and Happy Pride Weekend.
There were some gentle people in Volunteer Park tonight, attending the Seattle Trans Pride 2023 festivities there.

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Thursday/ elementary art 🦏

Check out the cute glass art on the cement chair in the little garden at Stevens Elementary School.
I see a lion up at the top, and a rhinoceros on the left, of course.
Would that be a lanky-legged hippopotamus on the right?

Stevens* Elementary School in Seattle’s North Capitol Hill opened in fall 1906 for students from north Capitol Hill and Interlaken, which included Montlake.
The rectangular, two-story frame building with clapboard siding and gable roof reflects the Colonial Revival style.
*Named after Isaac Ingalls Stevens, an American military officer and politician who served as governor of the Territory of Washington from 1853 to 1857.
(Washington State joined the Union on Nov. 11, 1889).
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Wednesday/ hello summer 🌞

We are blessed with goldilocks weather here in Seattle at the start of summer— mild and sunny, with a high of 72 °F (22 °C) today.
Sunrise was at 5.11 am and sunset at 9.10 pm, so we had just a touch under 16 hours of sunlight.

The amigos in action this morning at the Mt. Baker Park tennis (and pickle ball) courts. Everyone is up at the kitchen line (the kitchen is the non-volley zone at the net) and showing good form. 🤗
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Tuesday/ where is Titan? 🚁

The craft submerged Sunday morning, and its support vessel lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later, according to the Coast Guard.
The vessel was reported overdue about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The Titan was launched from an icebreaker that was hired by OceanGate and formerly operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The ship has ferried dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic wreck site, where the Titan has made multiple dives.
The U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday afternoon that the submersible had about 40 hours of oxygen remaining, meaning the supply could run out Thursday morning.
– Reported by AP News

There are five people on the vessel: OceanGate Inc. founder Stockton Rush, British businessman Hamish Harding, father-and-son Shahzada Dawood & Suleman Dawood from Pakistan, and former French navy officer Paul-Henry Nargeolet.

Update Thu 6/22:
Headlines from the New York Times—
After days of searching, no hope of finding survivors remains.
Debris suggests 5 aboard submersible were lost in ‘catastrophic implosion’.

Map and reporting from the New York Times.
Pictures from the New York Times.
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Happy Juneteenth 👏

Mauritania’s endless sea of sand dunes hides an open secret: An estimated 10% to 20% of the population lives in slavery. But as one woman’s journey shows, the first step toward freedom is realizing you’re enslaved.
– John D. Sutter writing for CNN Interactive (In 1981, Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery. Activists are arrested for fighting the practice. The government denies it exists).

Happy Juneteenth.
It is the third time around for the newest federal holiday in the US, Juneteenth National Independence Day, which celebrates the end of slavery in the United States.

There is still a lot of differences in the way states treat the day, though: some commemorate it as an official holiday, some just a day of observance, and others something in between. (In Washington State it was made a permanent state holiday in 2022).

The cool weather and on-again off-again rain of the weekend continued on Monday here in Seattle.
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Happy Father’s Day 😌

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads.

It is Father’s Day in South Africa and more than 100 other countries as well.
In Australia, Father’s Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of September.
In 2021, the President of Russia established Father’s Day as falling on the third Sunday of October.

Paternal Advice, oil on canvas, exact date unknown, auctioned at Christie’s, 9 Nov. 2010, Amsterdam, lot 152, sold for €13,750 (US$ 15,000)
The artist is Belgian painter Jozef Laurent Dyckmans (1811 – 1888). He painted mainly genre scenes and portraits, and his meticulously crafted paintings earned him the nickname “Belgian Gerard Dou”. (Gerard Dou was a Dutch Golden Age painter whose small, highly polished paintings are typical of the Leiden fijnschilders).
[Picture from Wikipedia]
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Saturday 🌧

It’s a cool and rainy weekend here in the Emerald City (64°F / 18°C)— a good day to go for a Starbucks coffee, or for a beer.

Check out the neon signs inside the Marco Polo bar in Seattle’s SoDo* district.
*South of downtown
[Photo credit to Steve for taking the picture 😁]
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Friday/ the glow of neon 🌈

These pictures are all from inside the National Neon Sign Museum in the former Elks Building in the heart of The Dalles downtown historic district.
The museum narrates the evolution of the electric sign, from pre-electric and gold leaf signage to the invention and widespread use of neon signs.
It houses one of the largest collections of neon storefront signs in the world.
Yes, neon signage has been in decline the last few decades, but many cities are now concerned with preserving and restoring their antique neon signs.

Fun fact— Argon is much more versatile than neon for creating colors, and some 75% of ‘neon’ signs actually has argon in the tubes and not neon. ‘Neon’ is the name that stuck for all signs that use either neon or argon.

Pictures:
That’s David Benko himself in one of the pictures, telling us about the history of neon signs. He established the museum in 2018, and is the curator— with a lifelong passion for collecting neon signs.
The museum has displays that show inventors and their experimentation with electricity in the 1700s and 1800s, the discovery of the noble gases argon (1894) and neon (1898) and a model of the patent for the first neon sign tubes that were created in 1910 by French engineer and inventor Georges Claude (the third picture).
By the end of the Roaring ’20s, most American cities were electrified. Illuminated streets and storefronts lured people into the streets at night time. The commercialization of neon signs took off in the 1930s after the Great Depression.

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Thursday/ driving back 🚘

It’s about a 4 hour drive without stops and without heavy traffic. There was a lot of traffic north of Olympia and around Tacoma, and with the stops we made the total trip time was closer to 6 hours.

We drove back to Seattle via Interstate 5 on Thursday, and stopped at two superchargers on the way: the one at Hood River and the one at Chehalis.

Interstate 84 out of The Dalles runs through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic area, offering beautiful views of the cliffs and forests along the river.

The Dalles is one of Oregon’s most historical cities and was known earlier in its history as the town at the end of the Oregon Trail. This is The Dalles City Hall building. The two-story structure with basement on a stone foundation was built in 1908 at a cost of about $30,000.
At the Hood River supercharger station off Interstate 84. There are 8 superchargers, available 24/7, charging at up to 250 kW.  The Hood River Waterfront Park is close by. We saw a few food trucks in an adjacent parking lot, and there is a microbrewery close by.  There are toilets by the windsurfing spot on the banks of the Columbia river.
Charging time of 11 mins remaining (of 20 mins or so) to continue the trip. Charging at 86 kW to add 149 miles of range. Current range is 218 miles. The charge limit is still set to the 92% I had set at home when I left, but it is unnecessary and unproductive to charge up to that level at this charger. The battery is not a gas tank that you fill up to the brim with gas. After 2 hours of driving from here we are going to make another stop (at a charger), and and add more miles again, there.
A bit of a walk from the Hood River supercharger, there is a famous (world-famous?) wind-surfing spot on the banks of the Columbia River. We are still on the Oregon side.
Here’s the new-ish (less than 6 months old, I think) supercharger at Chehalis off Interstate 5, also with 8 superchargers, available 24/7, up to 250 kW. There are several restaurants and stores across the street, within walking distance, which is great. It’s just not a closed lot, and one has to watch for other cars that come by, driving through.
Across from the Tesla chargers is a row of chargers from EVgo— one of several other EV charging station operators in North America. Tesla is still ‘leading the charge’, with its installed network of superchargers. Beginning in early 2024, owners of Ford and G.M. electric vehicles will be able to buy adapters to connect to Tesla fast chargers. In 2025, both companies plan to sell vehicles designed to use Tesla’s North American plug.
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Wednesday/ road trip to Oregon 🚘

It’s over 4 hours’ driving to The Dalles— make it 5 hours, if 2 or 3 stops are made en route.

 

Three amigos in two Teslas drove down to The Dalles in Oregon on Wednesday.
(Two more amigos were in The Dalles already).

We made stops at Snoqualmie Pass, in Ellensburg, and at the Tesla supercharger station in Yakima.

 

At the Yakima Tesla Supercharger off Interstate 82.
The supercharger can charge at a rate of up to 250 kW. If I recall correctly— I forgot to take a screen shot of the control panel— my car’s battery was at about 50% of full charge at the start of charging, and the average charging rate achieved was 80 kW. We stayed for no more than 20 minutes, and my bill for the charging came to $13.34 ($0.44c/ kWh).
The blue Tesla Model 3 and the gray Model Y (further back) made the trip to The Dalles, Oregon. There are 8 charging bays at the Yakima supercharger station.
Our lodging for the overnight stay: Cousin’s Country Inn in The Dalles, Oregon.
A giant weather vane at the entrance of Bargeway Pub on the banks of the Columbia River in The Dalles, Oregon.
Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) in the flower garden by the entrance of Bargeway Pub.
The patio at the Bargeway Pub offers a panoramic view of the mighty Columbia River. That’s Washington State on the other side. The ship is the American Jazz* from river cruise ship operator American Cruise Lines, making her way to Portland, Oregon.
*Built in 2020 by Chesapeake Shipbuilding (Salisbury, Maryland, USA) for US$45m. She has 6 decks and 99 cabins.
A view of the cliffs on the opposing river bank. Look for the blue jay perched on the sign.

 

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Tuesday/ ‘some birthday’ 🥳

“Some birthday,” Mr. Trump grumbled on Tuesday as he visited Versailles, a popular Cuban coffee shop in Miami. “Some birthday.”
– Shane Goldmacher and Maggie Haberman reporting for the New York Times (Trump turned 77 today).

Trump is technically in federal custody, after his indictment in a federal courthouse in Miami today. He was booked, a procedure that included digital fingerprints. However, he was not in handcuffs, nor was his passport surrendered or travel limits placed on him.

The scene in Miami as Trump’s motorcade arrived for his arraignment at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr.  U.S. Courthouse*. The crazy people were out there, but the crowd was a lot smaller than many had anticipated, and there was no violence.
(Were hard lessons learned in the wake of the thousand-or-so perpetrators that had been arrested after the Jan. 6 insurrection?)
A man walked around with a real pig’s head on a stake. Some Trump supporters had ‘I stand with Trump’ signs; others ‘Trump-DeSantis 2024’ signs.
*Judge Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. (1938-2003) was the first African-American to be appointed to the Dade County Circuit Court. As a trial judge, he made a landmark ruling precluding the systematic exclusion of blacks from juries. That ruling led to important appellate decisions recognizing the impropriety of such discrimination in the court system.
[Picture from the Washington Post]
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Monday/ two Porsches 👀

Here’s a gray Porsche Carrera GTS and a white Boxster S, keeping each other company in the bowels of the Amazon Fresh parking garage on Jackson Street today.

These are not EVs— Porsche’s electric cars are the Porsche Taycan (several versions) and the upcoming 2024 Porsche Macan EV (SUV).

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Sunday/ more & more EVs around ⚡️

Here’s a Kia EV6—  all the way from Texas— on the streets of Capitol Hill today.

According to the registration data from Experian (via Automotive News), the total number of Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) registrations during the first three months of 2023 amounted to 257,507, which is 63 % more than a year ago and about 7 % of the total market (up from 4.6 % in Q1 ’22).
[Source: InsideEVs.com]

The 2023 Kia EV6 starts at $50k. This could be a rear-wheel or all-wheel drive model— I’m not sure which one.
Car And Driver magazine’s Verdict is ‘Affordable, lively, and easy to live with, the EV6 electric SUV does most everything right’.
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Saturday/ three titles in four years 🎾

Congratulations to Iga Swiatek (22) from Poland.
She bested Karolína Muchová (Czechia, 26) by 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the French Open Women’s Final at Roland Garros today.

Iga Swiatek now has three French Open titles in four years, and four Grand Slam titles overall. She is only 22, and No 1 in the world of women’s tennis.
[Thomas Samson/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images]
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Happy Friday ☔️

There was a slight drizzle on and off today outside, which was very welcome.
Very little rain fell in May.

Peach-leaved bellflowers (Genus Campanula, Latin for ‘little bell’) here on Capitol Hill in Seattle.