West Seattle Thursday: Looking closely at the day ahead

(Jumping spider photographed in Lincoln Park by Machel Spence)
Highlights for today/tonight from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:

THE DOG WHO SAVES ORCAS: Tonight is the rescheduled “Tucker and the Orcas” presentation at the Duwamish Longhouse (4705 W. Marginal Way SW), 7 pm. Presentation and ticket information on the website for sponsoring organization The Whale Trail.

CHIEF SEALTH’S BIG GAME: The Chief Sealth International High School boys’ basketball team plays in the Tacoma Dome tonight, as one of the final 8 teams in the state 3A tournament. 7:15 pm vs. Bellevue.

WSHS GRAD NIGHT FUNDRAISER: Fantasy Casino Blackjack at Pyramid Alehouse (1201 1st Avenue S. in SODO) to raise money for this year’s West Seattle High School Grad Night celebration, 5:30-9 pm, appetizers, prizes, raffles, $35 at the door if you haven’t bought your ticket already (5 and under free).

BRIGHT HORIZONS PARENT-INFO SESSION: Interested in the new child-care center opening in Link (WSB sponsor) this spring? The Bright Horizons team will be at Cupcake Royale in The Junction (4556 California SW), 4-7 pm – drop in Q/A, no formal presentation. (Here’s the official flyer.)

SCHOOL TOURS: Arbor Heights Elementary kindergarten tour at 9:30 am, Chief Sealth tour at 1 pm, Madison Middle School at 6:30 pm.

‘OPEN MIKE’ AT FRESHY’S: 1st and 3rd Thursdays are “open mike” nights at Freshy’s Coffee. Starts at 7 pm.

ann March 3, 2011 (8:13 am)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAACKKKKKKKKKK!

WSB March 3, 2011 (8:22 am)

Oh c’mon, he or she is cute (and I think about the size of a pinhead; Machel specializes in taking larger-than-life photos of tiny things).

sun*e March 3, 2011 (8:31 am)

I don’t like spiders either but I do like this photo… he/she looks like how I feel today. :(

Alki resident March 3, 2011 (8:43 am)

Ewwwwwww,look at those beadie eyes.RAID

GAnative March 3, 2011 (8:58 am)

Not what I wanted to see first thing!

J March 3, 2011 (9:05 am)

Beautiful! These are my favorite spiders. Unlike many arthropods, they don’t seem “robotic” in their behavior. I think it’s the eyes, and the way they track you.

Alki resident March 3, 2011 (9:35 am)

They track you?Thats comforting.Is this known as the”Stalkenburg Spider”?

Machel Spence March 3, 2011 (10:23 am)

Anyone who has ever had an experience with a jumping spider knows what I’m talking about when I say they are the comedians of spiders. They have such unique personalities, some are shy and will scurry under the nearest leaf or flower as soon as they see you and some (like this one) will sit there and stare at you inching closer as they look. They have the ability to jump or leap anywhere from 10 all the way to 40 times their own body length and does not use webs to catch its prey, but they do attach a line of silk to their prey in case they happen to fall. I think it quite sad that so many people have arachnophobia, there is so much good that spiders do for the environment and they make great pets too (we have three tarantulas.) When I ask people why they are afraid of spiders most of them say they have never even had a bad experience with them, they just don’t like them (must be their bad rap in movies!) :) m-

PDieter March 3, 2011 (10:28 am)

you can add The Center School to high school open houses today.

6:00 Upstairs at the Center House

https://westseattleblog.com/forum/topic/open-house-the-center-school

Machel Spence March 3, 2011 (10:32 am)

Oh, and this one was about the size of the top of a thumbtack. Really small and really adorable (yes, I used the word adorable to describe a spider!) :) m-

Sonoma March 3, 2011 (11:15 am)

This spider is CUTE! (and definitely not a “Stalkenburg” – but what a perfect name for Duane the perv). Anyone who grew up reading “Charlotte’s Web,” or who understands the environmental benefits of spiders, should not fear them. I’m sure we look pretty scary and ugly to them. Now, don’t get me started on slugs. Just plain gross.

WSB March 3, 2011 (11:18 am)

Sonoma, funny you say that, as Machel also sent us a photo of a little bitty slug crawling around inside a beautiful blue eggshell …

westseattledood March 3, 2011 (11:52 am)

Nice! A little bug with big personality!

Machel Spence March 3, 2011 (11:53 am)

Do I have to convert people who don’t like slugs too?? LOL! m-

JanS March 3, 2011 (12:28 pm)

Spidey has a kind of George Carlin look – lol….

squareeyes March 3, 2011 (12:53 pm)

So that’s what those jumpers look like up close. So goofy and cartoonish. Too bad I don’t get that impression when in close proximity to any size arachnid.

MSD March 3, 2011 (1:32 pm)

I’m just happy to know it’s as small as a thumbtack. I was about to never go to LP again. It looks/feels much larger in the photograph!

PS: Love all the local photography that you feature on the blog!!

NotMe March 3, 2011 (4:18 pm)

I love Machel’s pictures we have been seeing here. Your work is amazing. And I am loving the pictures mixed in with the news, events and yes, even the gnarly comments. :-)

Machel Spence March 3, 2011 (4:41 pm)

LOL…all jumping spiders are pretty small so no worries. You have more to worry about with the humans around there than the animals. I spotted a raven again there today which is pretty unique…it’s the 4th time I have seen this raven around (if it’s the same one.) m-

Mama Lisa March 3, 2011 (5:01 pm)

You rock, Machel!

35this35mph March 3, 2011 (7:14 pm)

Yeah Machel your photos are outstanding. The overall quality of the photography on WSB is terrific. I assume they’re not paying for the images and it’s a testament to the quality of the blog in general that folks are willing to post these top-shelf images gratis. I suspect it’s a symbiotic relationship offering benefit to both parties and to us the readers especially! AND that spider is KYOOT!

Machel Spence March 3, 2011 (7:54 pm)

I send my photos to the WSB because I care about West Seattle and the parks we have here and hope that people will take care of them the way they should be taken care of. There is so much to see in our parks, they are ALL such incredible ecosystems…Lincoln Park, Schmitz Park, Me-Kwa-Mooks…so many beautiful areas! m-

WSB March 3, 2011 (8:09 pm)

35 – I wish we could pay for absolutely everything we run here. We pay for assigned news coverage – we pay professional photojournalists and writers to help us cover news – we plow everything right back into the business, but we don’t (yet) have the budget to pay for contributions like these, as fabulous as they are. We have made a choice, rather than trying to squeeze every cent possible out of the site and sponsors, to keep advertising rates the same place they’ve been since we launched three-plus years ago, even though our traffic is now seven times what it was then (and our rates are flat, not per-view or per-click); the economy has remained shaky enough that it has just never seemed right to raise rates. So our revenue hasn’t exactly exploded, and we pay what we can (our freelance rates are higher than megacorporations pay, by the way, and unlike some big media companies, we have never asked people to cover news for free) … and we hope that in cases like this, where professional imagery has been shared without monetary compensation, that at least linking back to the photographer’s site, and the high visibility of being on West Seattle’s most-read news source (903,000 pageviews last month, a new per-day-average record), is some consolation. More than you wanted to know, probably, but there you have it … and THANK YOU to Machel and everyone else who shares amazing imagery like this … TR

jr March 3, 2011 (8:07 pm)

JUMPING spider? Yuck!!!

Machel Spence March 3, 2011 (8:47 pm)

And you know I would not want to get paid…these beauties belong to all of our eyes, I just happen to capture them well. :) This is a blog we ALL enjoy and people should want to share with their neighbors without compensation, that is what a community is all about. m-

Jennifer March 4, 2011 (7:45 am)

I can’t tell…is this a zebra jumping spider? I used to love watching them as a kid. I don’t see them as much as an adult. I love the photos that people send in. Thank you to all who take the time to share and thanks to the blog for posting them.

miws March 4, 2011 (9:00 am)

Well all you spider huggers, not all spiders are sweet and cuddly! Some, are actually little Saboteurs !

Of course, I snark in jest. I have come to respect spiders a great deal in just the last several years, after learning how beneficial they truly are. (Although I still don’t care for the thought of them crawling on me!)

Mike