THURSDAY, MARCH 14 2013 >>>

1. Up until 2003, trains pounded the historic Prairie Line rail corridor from the Thea Foss Waterway to the Brewery District, passing rickety warehouses and dens of iniquity. In the fall of 2011, some $5.83 million was earmarked to turn the half-mile Prairie Trail corridor into a living and breathing interpretive trail connecting the waterfront with downtown Tacoma, which will also include a storm water purification system for the polluted runoff from Hilltop. Then reality hit. The University of Washington redesigned its portion. The storm water filtration ponds are now subtle. The pedestrian and bike paths are more functional. The price tag much less. Now it's the city of Tacoma's turn to fall in line. It's segments of the Prairie Line - south of campus into the Brewery District and north as it crosses Pacific Avenue and heads toward the Thea Foss Waterway, the end of the line for the transcontinental railroad of yesteryear - needs to meld with UWT's design. See the city's proposed designs for its portion of the Prairie Line Tail at an open forum from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Tacoma Art Museum. Yes, open forum. You may chime in with your own design thoughts.

2. From 4-7 p.m. Tacoma's Crescent Moon Gifts will take the bake sale to a new level. Its Dessert and Divination offers baked goodies, shop and snag sweet swag like bracelets, tees and uh, more baked goods - with all proceeds going to support the Central Puget Sound Pagan Pride Day (say that three times fast). Crescent Moon knows how to throw a fundraiser. Also with every $10 dessert purchase attendees will receive a free 10-minute reading.

3. There's a lot of bickering and disagreement in this world, but one thing anyone with a soul can agree on includes the value of pie. At 7 p.m. King's Books celebrates Pi(e) Day, featuring the release of the book Pieography: Where Pie Meets Biography and a Pie Baking/Recipe Contest open to all. Tacoma artist Sarah Beth Smith will be there as she is one of the contributors to Pieography, the new book that features 42 pie recipes that encapsulate the lives of 39 women. The pie contest is open to all with the winner receiving a free copy of the book and a ribbon.

4. O'Blarney's Irish Pub in Olympia is so freakin' excited about St. Patrick's Day that it can't wait any longer. At 7 p.m. it will host an Irish-themed trivia contest with prizes, Guinness discounts, $7.99 steaks and all hosted by someone named Jimbo.

5. It's a fast-paced world we live in today, and we don't seem to have time to do anything anymore from plant watering to floor resurfacing, it all takes time we don't necessarily have, so we end up giving up the important stuff like meeting the opposite sex because how can you have time to toss your hair and work your smile if you're always late for your next meeting and your iCal doesn't have space for that in your schedule anyway so you have to make time and the best way to maximize the benefits your pheromones provide is to join in an organized event something like Speed Dating at Doyle's that allows you to meet people in less time than it takes to reheat a frozen chicken pot pie - a food you will never have to enjoy alone or at all again if you walk through Doyle's door at 7:30 p.m. because you'll finally have a life. Bring $20 and a smile knowing you're helping HopeSparks charity.

LINK: Thursday, Match 14 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area