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The Verkstad upgrade continues. Help yourself to a swell new gallery of scribbles made during boring meetings!

I don't know if Lee Greenwood is gonna like this, when he sees it....

Monika and I shipped off our drawings to the annual DrawProject show in Valdosta, Georgia.

This September, we were lucky to host second-cousin Leif Lidman, who visited from Piteå, Sweden. After 25 hours of travel, he arrived in Seattle around midnight. Early the next morning, we looked out the window and saw him below, taking photographs of our downtown neighborhood. He had only 12 golden days to experience our city and "no time to waste, sleeping." Leif is a veritable powerhouse of energy and enthusiasm - outgoing, friendly and always open to new experiences and ideas. What a guest!

Of special interest to him - the Seattle programs and interactive events, parks and venues designed to showcase the arts. He is the program director for Badhusparken in his town, a park that functions as the living core of Piteå. He schedules all events that occur there, from the big names that travel to perform at their outdoor stage, to folk dancing and storytelling sessions in the round house, to the Saturday morning flea market, to the oversight of the popular hostel, housed in what was the town's oldest hospital. He's an ambitious guy with lots of great ideas.

In the short days that he was with us, we covered a lot of ground. Family, friends and the artists of the Diller Hotel will remember him well. Hats off to Leif, the best ambassador and enthusiast that Piteå has to offer! Thanks for the memories!

Our good friends George Ferrandi and Miguel Luciano recently painted a Barack Obama mural on her building in Brooklyn. This inspired Monika to make a banner we could hang out our window. George emailed her graphic, and Monika got to work. So what are you waiting for?

Photo by Kevin Daniel

Photo by Kevin Daniel