Maybe because Dan Savage and his publication are constantly trashing the SW? Or maybe because he's a general asshole ?

The first two ingredients are sugar and vegetable oil. It has more overall fat than regular cream cheese (11g versus 9g per tbsp serving)--though less saturated fat (5.5g versus 5g)--and two servings have more sugar than a 12oz Pepsi (42g).

I would recommend checking out the many options that exist in the way of the rent-controlled housing for low-income residents. With your income you may qualify.

A common rule of thumb is to spend a quarter of your income on housing, so living on the cheap side puts you at about $600-$700 per month.

Market conditions seem good right now for renters, with relatively stagnant or lowered prices (I just moved out of a 1 bedroom on Capitol Hill after living there almost 2 years, and they raised the advertised rent $25) and lots of places offering one month free rent and other perks.

As far as overall safety, almost all of Seattle is safe. Belltown gets a bad rap, but it strikes me as more of a sketch/crazy/transient factor than genuine lack of safety. The Central District also gets a bad rap for gang activity.

Belltown: expensive for the masses, see above re: safety. Lots of low-income housing here if you qualify, though.

Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, or Fremont: max out your city living cred. You could affordably rent a room in these neighborhoods, or studios can also be found here for $700. Amazingly, I'm seeing some one bedrooms below $700 on Capitol Hill right now. For a better-quality place (larger, more recent construction), think north Seattle.

Wedgwood, Ravenna, Phinney, Wallingford, Greenwood, Green Lake: this seems like your sweet spot, unless you are really set on a walkable city life in which case I strongly recommend you go for a cheap Cap Hill studio/1br.

West Seattle: similar to north Seattle neighborhoods above, but more isolated from the rest of the city. Safety level and rent are going to drop as you move south towards White Center / Burien.

Lake City, Northgate, Central District, Rainier Valley: very affordable, but among some of the less safe neighborhoods.

You may want to consider what makes a bar a "gay bar". Is it a sign on the door? Usually not. Maybe gays in Ballard just haven't congregated to any single bar, and no bar owners have put out a "gay friendly" vibe.

It's also possible that Ballard is just filled with old people and 30ish heteros.

First, QuestionLand is not hosted on the Stranger's servers.

Second, Windows server is not going to make a real difference.

To answer your question, Slog is somewhat slow, but painful? No. In fact, right now both thestranger.com and slog.thestranger.com are pretty fast for me.

It's the first link on the left, under Windows Live, Hotmail, and your email address.

If it actually does look like facebook, check your c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file and make sure there isn't a line containing "hotmail.com"

*clap*

Manny's.