THURSDAY 11/18

QUESTIONS ANSWERED -- Today, I decree that you should finally get that one question answered that's been itching at the edge of your mind. Perhaps it is something like, "Where did Hemingway find that damned six-toed cat, anyhow?", or something more esoteric like "Is a rose really a rose is a rose?" Regardless, public librarians await your phone call: 386-4636.

SATURDAY 11/20

FIRST ANNUAL NEIGHBORHOODS & COMMUNITIES DANCE PARTY -- You've been wanting to meet them, those surly people who check carefully to see if your grass is taller than theirs. Here's your chance to not only meet them, but to embrace them on the dance floor. Neighborly love, indeed! Gateway Athletic Club, 14th Floor, Key Bank Building, Fifth & Columbia, 721-0217, 5:30-7:30 pm, $10. Sponsored by the NeighborNets Network. Kids welcome.

ST. JAMES CATHEDRAL COUNTDOWN TO 2000 -- It is beyond me how lighting up bridges and buildings around the area for New Years leaves, according to Paul Schell, "a lasting legacy for future generations," but I'm sure St. James looks very pretty in its rich violet light. Go and gawk at it tonight. St. James Cathedral, 804 Ninth Ave, 382-4874, after dark, free.

SUNDAY 11/21

FISH PRINTS -- Doubtless it will be a rainy day today, and what goes better with rain than the smell of fish? Head on down to the docks in Ballard, where processing boats are frequently happy to hand over "junk" fish for your artistic pleasure. Take that baby home, slather one side with water-based acrylic, and press a cotton-fiber piece of paper upon it. Peel off carefully. Voilà! Art!

MONDAY 11/22

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. ESSAY CONTEST -- OK, brace yourself: Remember eighth grade? Remember essay contests? You knew what they wanted to hear. When I was in eighth grade I won the "What's So Great About Washington State" essay contest, and I think I wrote about, y'know, apples and fish and mountains. Pick up your pedagogical pens, eighth graders, and try your stuff on this theme: "Dr. King's Work: What My Generation Can Do to Complete It in the New Millennium." Mail your typed, double-spaced entry of 750-1,000 words with cover page to: King County Civil Rights Commission, 900 Fourth Ave, Ste 860, Seattle, WA 98164. Deadline is December 17.