It’s an especially geeky Capitol Hill weekend as gamer nerds who like to drink celebrate the return of BarCraft. Not your style? Plenty more to do, below. Oh, and the Conservatory is free for First Thursday.

Want your event to be part of the mix? Anybody can add Capitol Hill-related items to the free CHS Calendar.

Thursday, April 4

• Seattle EcoDistrict Bike Tour starts and ends at Sam’s Tavern at 11th and Pike, 4 – 5p.
• Author reading: Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religions is a powerful collection of essays written by women of varying ages, races, and religious backgrounds, edited by Cami Ostman and Susan Tive. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7p.
  

  (Image: Moisture Festival)

•  Post hole digger? Drain auger? Rake? Rare or common, what tools might you borrow from a Capitol Hill Tool Lending Library? Bring your ideas to Sustainable Capitol Hill’s visioning meeting on forming a tool library for the neighborhood. Braeburn (1410 E Pine), 7 – 10p.
• BarCraft Seattle: it’s like watching a regular sports game at a bar with other fans, except you are watching eSports.  BarCraft started on Capitol Hill and has since spread worldwide.  Auto Battery Bar (1009 E Union), 7 – 10p.
• Moisture Festival’s Libertease Burlesque continues through Sunday with early and late night performances. Broadway Performance Hall, 7:30p (+ 10:30p on Fri, Sat, and a final Sunday matinee.

Friday, April 5

• Happy Birthday, Tommy Gun! With drink and food specials + extended happy hour, the twos aren’t so terrible.
• Author readings: Journalist Pamela Olson shares the story of her time in Ramallah in her memoir, Fast Times in Palestine: A Love Affair with a Homeless Homeland starting at 6p. Then at 8p, Aleksandar Hemon reads from his first non-fiction prose book The Book of My Lives, at Elliott Bay Book Company, 6p and 8p.
• A New Philosopy of Alzheimer’s Care: expert John Zeisel makes the case for holistic treatment and understanding and emphasizing abilities unaffected by the disease. He offers strategies for creating a Seattle program. Town Hall, 6:30 – 8p.
• Poetry: dozens of Seattle poets read from the Alive at the Center anthology. Reciters (readers?) include Kate Lebo, Sierra Nelson, Karen Finneyfrock, Kevn Craft, and Sarah Galvin. Richard Hugo House, 7p.
• Art show opening: Icons & Influences hosts over 30 new pieces of original and limited edition art from the minds of Justin Hillgrove and Mike Capp, featuring their favorite mashups of pop culture and cult icons. Monsters are sooo cuuuute. Ltd Gallery, 307 E Pike) 7 – 11p.
• Politics and Spaces of Public Wilderness: a lecture by writer Charles Mudede runs the gamut of t heory, images, music and a 15 minute script reading by actors. Intellectual stimulation! Hedreen Gallery (901 12th Ave), 7 – 8p.
• Hirsute party: Bearded Lady Competition and Awards Gala for the Beard & Stache Fest. Ladies can enter the bearded lady competition by creating their own facial hair out of any material. Also, there will be “live freestyle” competition -open to all- for the most outrageous facial hair. Gentleman, prepare your wax. Chop Suey (1325 E Madison), 8p.

Saturday, April 6

• Author readings: A program titled “Love Will Tear Us Apart: Memoir and the Art of Self-Scrutiny” features Portland authors Scott Nadelson and Jay Ponteri. Elliott Bay Book Company, 2p.
• Novel launch: Chihuahua Confidential is the second book in the Wavery Curtis detective series written by local authors Waverly Fitzgerald and Curt Colbert. A chihuaha detective? Sign us up. Elliott Bay Book Company, 6p.
• Sister Spit, a legendary raucous, rowdy gang lands in Seattle with a queer literary performance event including multimedia, performance artists, filmmakers and poets plus special guests David Schmader and Rebecca Brown. Richard Hugo House, 8p.
• Beowulf time travel: Benjamin Bagby delivers a traditional bardic storyteller style performance of Beowulf while accompanying himself on an Anglo-Saxon harp. Supratitles will be projected in English, in case you’re rusty with the olde tongue. For fans of midevalists, both historical and fictionalized. Town Hall, 8 – 10p.
• A regional Flute Festival takes over the entire building of Town Hall with workshops, performances, recitals and a trade show (place to buy stuff). Town Hall, 11a – 5p.

Sunday April 7

• Seattle Playwrights Collective offers the third installment of Medicine Ball: Playwrights vs. Poets. The setup is TL;DR but it goes something like: two people are given a theme and a week to develop new work. These new works are presented head-to-head and the audience votes on which one is better. There are several rounds of this. Blood may be spilt. Elliott Bay Book Company, 6p.
• Silent art auction:  This event supports non-profit Art With Heart and offers live music, speakers, and, of course, original art up for bid.  Vermillion, 6 – 9p.
• A People’s Guide to the Federal Budget: National Priorities Project’s executive director Jo Comerford leads a discussion of the book which explains budget jargon, where the money goes, and the ongoing conflict in our nation’s capitol city. Town Hall, 7:30 – 9p.
• Weird and Awesome with Emmett Montgomery is a variety show with brilliant people doing brilliant things. In honor of national poetry month Emmett is joined by special co-host acclaimed poet and human being, Sierra Nelson (vis a vis society, typing explosion). Additional guests include Travis Vogt, Kevin Clarke Steve Snoey, and Peggy Platt. Annex Theatre, 7:30p.