I live in Bellingham, Washington. The City of Subdued Excitement. Seriously. The two things my boyfriend wanted me to see when we started looking for apartments up here a few months ago: a mural bearing that phrase and the locally (in)famous sculpture "Man F*cks Bear (or Cow)". Not the greatest first impression, buddy. Otherwise known as "The Man Who Used To Hunt Cougars For Bounty" by Richard Beyer, the sculpture is located in Western Washington University's north campus, amidst a patch of grass, in all its glory.
Western's campus actually has a considerable sculpture collection, 30 pieces or so, though I wasn't shown any other pieces during our campus art tour. Speaking of Western, I was really worried about moving to a college town at first, until I discovered one key fact: Western Washington University does NOT have a greek system. The closest thing to Frat Row is downtown's Holly (Booze) Street, which automatically filters it's patrons into certain categories, such as: meat seekers and meat providers, hipsters (we call it Seattle's minor leagues), drunk small town girls, show goers, and locals.
I have also made it a personal project of mine to equate every bar and restaurant in downtown and Fairhaven (think upper Queen Anne in proximity and flavor) to one in Seattle. The Horseshoe is like Linda's. Skylark is like Charlie's on Broadway. Glo is like all the worst parts of Belltown and Pioneer Square packed into a space the size of The 5 Point and three floors up (heat rises, didya know??). The Horseshoe is also like The 5 Point as it's open 23 hours a day. Boundary Bay is like Elysian with shorter stools and less creative names. The Green Frog is like The Redwood because of the whole peanuts on the ground thing. I think it makes me feel less homesick.
Moving right along; Bellingham was founded in the early 1900's when the townships of New Whatcom and Fairhaven joined forces. With a population of just over 75,000 of which approximately 15,000 are Western students, it's the largest city in Whatcom County and the twelfth largest city in Washington. It's proximity to Mount Baker and assorted waterways makes it an ideal location for the annual Ski to Sea race, a seven-leg relay which involves essentially getting down a mountain and into a bay (an hour away by car) by skiing, running, biking, kayaking and canoeing.
Bellingham also hosts LinuxFest NW, a convention that attracts over 2000 participants a year. Other interests include a LGBT Pride parade, a Wig Out Fest, and The Imperial Sovereign Court of the Evergreen Empire, a charity not unlike The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Oooh, and there's the Bellingham Roller Betties, which play in the same derby league as the Rat City Roller Girls.
Bellingham International Airport will take you to about 5 destinations: Seattle; Friday Harbor; Las Vegas; Reno; San Francisco; Mesa, Arizona and seasonal service to Palm Springs, California. None of these destinations are international. Just sayin'.
There are some pretty decent musical acts that spawn from/travel through Bellingham, like Handful of Luvin and Deathcab for Cutie (we were recently graced by Seattle locals TacocaT and Golden Robot Army. I know them.) So far I've seen two shows since we've lived here, one was at the Green Frog and that place is intimate, but pretty awesome. Also, the owner is the door guy/stage director/sound guy/relief bartender/control freak. With peanuts.
A few famousish people from Bellingham: Ben Gibbard, lead singer for Deathcab for Cutie (the drummer's from here too); Ryan Stiles, he was on The Drew Carey Show and Who's Line Is It Anyway?; and Hilary Swank, she won some Oscars for some stuff.
When you are living in Bellingham, you are a Hamster. When you leave, you refer to the city as The Hammer. This is required forever. When I tried to ask why I would refer to a city as a tool, I was hushed as if the Hammer police had bugged my conversation. I've learned that there are traditions associated with the city that the locals and students just adopt without question, and it's becoming one of my favorite things about living here. Don't ask why. Just roll with it.
