On the last day of the year, custom dictates that you should do what everyone tells you you're not supposed to do on the other 364 days of the year: Dwell on the past.

But we like to do things a bit differently. It's called denial. It involves me looking over the most popular posts and reading into it whatever I damn well please.

For starters, you really, really like men dressed as women. As much as I do, in fact. You could say that the only reason that post was popular is that zillions of men Googling for cross-dressers stumbled upon it, but I know better. You're an open-minded set.

You also appreciate the finer things in life, namely Celine Dion. You think that post got into the top 10 because we spread the word about the contest via Celine fan sites? No. You people just enjoy good music.

In addition to being audiophiles, you're good citizens: You'd just die if Natasha named the gnome. Me too! Hey, why don't you just rip off Santa's beard, while you're at it?

But wait, there's more: You do-gooders also care about the environment. No price is too high for a squirrel. And yet you're patriotic, spending time in the comments of that post talking about how to quash the spread of Squirr-al Qaeda.

Finally, you also care deeply about
the forthcoming GritCity shirts. I knew it! You love us, you really love us.

Happy New Year, friends!

... and only to SolaRichard.

Our favorite solar Santa was recently in the Harmon, minding his own beeswax and solar-powering a blues performance when he was asked to be a witness to a wedding on the spot.

Here's what he had to say about the experience:

I did. They did. It was a real Tacoma Moment.

Unlike Gentry's post involving a dude singing both male and female vocals for "A Whole New World," this post does matter: Next time you're boozing and decide to get married, you now know who to call.

This has nothing to do with anything, but you should all be witness to it.

I was on the receiving end once of text messages sent by a loved one who consequently got in a car accident because of said text messages. You would think, then, that I would be smart enough to NOT text message while driving. Alas and alack, no.

Maybe this new law will wise me up?

From Joe Turner's story:

Sending an e-mail or a text message while you’re driving could cost you $124, starting Tuesday.

But you’ve got six more months before talking on a cell phone while driving – unless you have a hands-free device – will get you fined.

I'll let you know as soon as I'm $124 poorer for my bad decisions.

Everyone has probably realized that I do little but go to coffeeshops and daydream and (not) post on the blog. I make no excuses.

But sometimes a GritCity post comes to you all tied up in a bow.

Voila: On my usual pilgrimage this morning, I snapped this festive streetscape to share with y'all.

In other coffee news, I'm cheating on Blackwater with Satellite Coffee Co. I make no excuses. Check with the baristas there first, but on most Thursday nights at 6, they've been hosting cuppings (ie tastings; I'd say "tastings," but I'm a yuppie; I make no excuses) of fancy-pants coffee varieties.

Merry Christmas to us.

This is news from a couple of months ago, so not exactly timely on our part, but we've finally caught up with our back issues of People Magazine so bear with us.

Clearly, we would be remiss if we didn't revisit their "Sexy Man of the Week" featured during the final week of October '07. I bring you Mr. Penn Badgley who stars in The CW's Gossip Girl as "hipster hottie Dan Humphrey."

Penn is from Gig Harbor, 21-years-old, and single.

What does he do on first dates?

"A first date could be as simple as making dinner at my place. I rarely cook, but I would for a girl. The last thing I made was chicken teriyaki -- that's not very sexy."

His seduction secret?

"I'll say, 'I'm gonna take you home and play piano for you.' I don't do that for just anybody. I'm not the kind of guy who'll sit at a party and play Dave Matthews to get girls -- that's too cheesy. I'll write something original."

It doesn't sound like his secret is working if he's still single. I'm guessing it's something about the way he demands that you go home with him so he can "play piano for you." Either that or his original content is not as sexy as Dave Matthews' content.

Either way, I'll tell you what IS working: His tuxedo / long johns combo.

Let's zoom in...

So, what made him so sexy that week? Why is he no longer sexy now that the week is over? Here are my best guesses to explain his fall from grace:

• So many men, so few weeks.
• He doesn't think chicken teriyaki is sexy. IT IS.
• Long johns were SO October '07.
• He revealed his Gig Harbor connection.
• People Magazine editors accidentally caught an episode of Gossip Girl.

Remember how last week I was busy fighting crime and researching Vegas mobsters? Well, it gets better. On Thursday, I got an e-mail from Tom Stenger:

I hear you're mentioning our little altercation on your
blog again. Knock it off already!

sincerely,
Tom "the tool" Stenger

Naturally, I was excited. Finally! Tom and I can put aside our differences and just chat! I replied:

Tom,
Your e-mail is the best thing I've gotten all day. It makes me wish you had
a blog, too!
Question: If I gave you a GritCity T-shirt, would you wear it? I'm serious,
so please write me back.
-Niki "the tattler" Sullivan

See, isn't that clever?! Just me and Tom, pal-ing around. While I waited for a reply, I sent the e-mail around to my fellow bloggers. Laura came up with this vision:

Well, I was in for quite the surprise...

=> Read more!

One of our regular readers lives in the Bay Area and is visiting Tacoma this week, so he wanted some suggestions on where to get a drink. Here are some of our favorites.

Niki
• Monsoon Room About the size of a closet, and perpetually dark. Prepare to get very drunk on tasty exotic/expensive drinks.
• Tempest I love the pin-up girls in the bathrooms. They will not, however, buy me drinks ...

Laura
• The Spar Because they’ll fry anything.
• The Parkway Because I swear their beers have a higher alcohol content than other bars.
• The Pup Room at The Poodle Dog Because it’s on the way home. And I like poodles.

Cole
• Any wine bar They always feel like a classy way to start a night. If purple teeth are classy.
• The Red Hot The place has a genuine friendliness about it. Plus, it's within stumbling distance to my house – but I'm not sure how that helps you.

Kelly
• El Gaucho Go for the vodka, stay for the cheeseburger. Late happy hour till 1.
• Knapp's Like going to your jolly drunk uncle’s house.
• Magoo’s It’s so loud and dark, you might get lucky.

Best Place We Haven't Been to Yet But Really Want to Go Sometime Soon: Top of Tacoma

And we have some questions for you:
Paddy Coyne's or Doyles?
Pacific Grill or Sea Grill?
E9 or Farrelli's?
Matador or Masa?

Also, if any bars will be open late Christmas Eve or Christmas night, please let us know. We'll definitely need a drink after work.

Two promotional posters for Tacoma Art Museum events won international MarCom design awards.

But the thing is: There are about 5,000 entries in the contest, and about 15 percent of the entries win a platinum award. So that's about 750 "winners."

Anyway, the poster for the Sparkle Then Fade exhibit earned a platinum award.

The postcard for a free community festival related to the Frida Kahlo: Images of an Icon exhibit received an honorable mention. In the GritCity Design Awards, it wins first place for Best Use of a Unibrow.

Both pieces were designed by Tacoma Art Museum’s staff graphic designer, Pei Pei Sung.

Ho ho ho. I'm back to work. A few days late, but here are some Santarchy photos from News Tribune entertainment editor Craig Sailor. For more, check out Santarchy's MySpace page. And my friendly next-door neighbor Matt Driscoll wrote about it and has some photos too.

Santas board the bus outside the Harmon.

=> Read more!

Five tips for tonight's Santarchy

1. Asbestos beard prevents cigarette flare-ups.
2. Festive belt serves as beer holster.
3. Santa's sack conceals secret stash.
4. Pair of dangly holiday jingle balls only get funnier as the night goes on.
5. Merry red hat cloaks bail money.

I'm sure you can think of more ...

Photo illustration by Cole, original photo taken for The News Tribune on Dec. 24, 1925.

I've been terribly busy this week digging up some of Tacoma's juiciest secrets and solving some of its biggest mysteries. Mobsters. Tunnels. Smuggling rings. Garish color schemes on Craftsman homes. Pajamagrams.

Just when I thought I had solved every last mystery and was ready to blow your minds (I imagined Bill Baarsma shaking his fists and saying "I woulda gotten away with it if it weren't for those darned kids." And Tom Stenger would tell me off. Again.), I realized we'd already run most of the story. Yesterday.

Here's the long and short of it, courtesy of the TNT's own Jonathan Nesvig:

Meyer Lansky, the (Las Vegas) mob’s money man and one of the underworld’s most powerful and influential figures, had ties to Tacoma. One of his sons, Paul, an engineer, and his family lived in the North End. Meyer Lansky used to visit on July 4, which also was his birthday.
Neighbors recall Lansky arriving in a black limousine and FBI agents watching his every move during the late ’60s and early ’70s... In Las Vegas, Lansky helped bankroll Bugsy Siegel’s Flamingo hotel. Legend has it he had Siegel killed over the vast cost overruns on the project. Lansky kept a financial interest in the Flamingo until the 1960s.
Lee Strasberg played a character based on Lansky in “The Godfather, Part II.” Lansky died in 1983 in Miami Beach at age 80.

Some basic Googling reveals that a Meyer Lansky III still lives around these parts. [Call me.]

And what does this all have to do with pajamagrams? Nothing (that I can find). But did you even know they existed? And do you notice how it prevents you from pronouncing it pa-JAH-ma? That gives me comfort enough.

First Night Tacoma asked for some help from bloggers so that a search for "New Year's Eve" and "Tacoma" would produce results for an actual party in Tacoma.

So here's my attempt at linking as many words and phrases as possible in order to help First Night Tacoma, a New Year's Eve party that I think technically should be called Last Night, since it's on Dec. 31. But that sounds kind of ominous. Or embarrassing, depending on how much you remember about what you did last night.

Buy a button. View some photos. Volunteer. Or contact First Night. Or learn about restaurants that support First Night.

Also, TheNewsTribune.com happens to be one of First Night's major sponsors – $25,000 or more in donations. I'd like to think most of that comes from GritCity readers' high interest in Lancome advertisments. Specifically, Nitsuj and SavvyReader. Those guys love products.

So in closing, I hope this helps First Night Tacoma in some small way.

Beautiful Angle's poster sale was over the weekend, and November's poster titled "Create Your Own" includes a blank framed canvas and urges people to take a crack at it.

So here's my little design.

Now it's your turn. It's like a coloring contest, but you can go outside the lines.

You better watch out, you better not cry: Santarchy is coming to town.

For the first time, Tacoma will experience the growing international phenomenon known as Santarchy, which basically involves a swarm of drunks dressing up in fake beards and cheap Santa suits, then drinking more.

It's like being homeless, but with more candy canes.

The fun starts at 6 p.m. Dec. 14 at the Swiss, then moves on via giant yellow school bus. Stay in the loop at www.myspace.com/tacomasantarchy.

Niki tells me:
"I think they have something like this in Portland, but the Santas all drink some THC-laden tea or something. I can’t remember ... I just know that I woke up with a headache and a sack full of other children’s toys. kidding."

I'm not so sure she's kidding.

Stay tuned for GritCity's Guide to Santarchy, along with some tips on how to find out who's been naughty and who's been naughtier.

O, Tacoma, your mysteries never cease.

Last night as I was driving home, I saw a woman in a white full-length fur coat and red track pants. Hitch-hiking. On South 19th Street.

And beside us glowed the space-age orb that is St. Joseph's hospital.

And the moon was heavy over the port.

If only I'd been listening to "Get Behind Me Satan."

Exit133 had a brilliant response to Natasha's Weekly Volcano column last week in which she seeks the identity of the mysterious and magical Tacoma Gnome.

But we here at GritCity have a slightly more straightforward reply:

You name the gnome, and we name you.

We'll identify you and all of your fellow Volcano personalities. Not even cute little Suzy Stump will be spared.

That's not a threat. It's a choice.

A lot of us have met the gnome, Natasha, but there's no reason to ruin Christmas and let the cat out of the beans.

Here's some reality TV news we can really be proud of, especially since she won $300,000 for her community:

Local gospel singer Crystal Aikin has won BET’s national “Sunday Best” competition.

Aikin, a Fife resident who grew up in Tacoma, was selected from thousands of contestants to perform on the show, a gospel version of the popular “American Idol” singing competition.

Aikin, 33, won a recording contract, a new car and $300,000 earmarked for community improvement. When she’s not singing gospel music, she works as an emergency room nurse at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma. She is a graduate of Foss High School, class of 1992, and Pacific Lutheran University. Her home church is Christ Life Center Church in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood.

– From the story by News Tribune reporter Bill Hutchens

Here she is in action on the show back in November:

After reading this story about a bank robbery in Auburn, what astonishes you more:

1) The fact that a criminal had the audacity to rob a bank in front of live TV cameras

or

2) The fact that the police caught the wrong guy.

Discuss.