My Blog
The sky has fallen, and Seahawks fans are losing their minds. It was bad enough already. An easy (seemingly) win against the Colts in week one was followed by back-to-back losses, against the Titans and Vikings respectively, in weeks two and three. In these games, a Jekyll and Hyde quality emerged. Seahawks play in the first half was serviceable, even good in some moments. But second half play was a horror show. The defense looked lost and bewildered. The offense went cold. Self-inflicted penalties menaced. …
Throughout the course of this pandemic, creatives, for the most part, seem to have fallen into two categories. There were those who took complete advantage of the lockdown, going into a kind of creative hyperdrive. They recorded new albums, wrote poignantly beautiful poetry and painted their own personal masterpieces. But then there were others who hit a creative stupor, which ranged from melancholic befuddlement to a complete shutdown of inspiration and vision. I fell into the latter camp. In the early days and weeks of…
Right now, 32 states have some kind of anti-transgender legislation on the table. If I’m doing the math correctly, there are 111 bills total. Obviously, some states have multiple bills. Texas leads the pack with 12, followed by Iowa and Tennessee with eight each. The majority of these bills either ban transgender athletes from participating in sports programs or criminalize gender affirming care for transgender youth. In some states, parents who allow their child to receive gender affirming care can be charged with felony child…
Yesterday afternoon, I plugged in the lights, put on the Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas album (my favorite) and baked a pie for my neighbors. While I’ve eaten plenty of pie over the years, this was my first attempt at actually making one. Luckily, a dear friend (and source for the recipe) was available by phone to coach me through the tricky spots. Her familiar and ever so slight Texas drawl was the sweetest assurance. Outside it was windy and rainy. Inside, the tunes were swingin’…
Tuesday, November 3, 2020 I’m out on the streets on Capitol Hill, in Seattle. I don’t know the hour exactly. People are everywhere. Cars are honking. Fireworks are popping. The scene is unfettered revelry. I’m simply standing here, taking it all in. Joe Biden has won the election, handing Donald Trump defeat in a suffocating landslide. Pundits say the win was by the largest margin in electoral history. Attendant with the Biden win is a crushing blue tsunami across all of Congress. Democrats maintained the…
Hello, good people. It's been a while. I took a few months off to focus on wellness. Events were happening faster than I could process them. My brain became overloaded. I felt constricted from the stress. Emotions were heavy. Ultimately, my heart, mind, body and soul fell out of alignment. So I took some time to rest and recalibrate. Self-care is paramount for all of us right now. I might also add that I’ve been more hesitant to post if I don’t have something new…
“We are in danger of destroying ourselves by our greed and stupidity.” – Stephen Hawking I’ve been thinking about this quote a lot lately, especially in regard to the current mask debacle that is taking place across the country. On Wednesday, the United States saw an all-time high in coronavirus numbers, with 38,115 new cases reported in a single day. The upward surge continues across multiple states. As of this writing, 18 states, including Washington, are now requiring people to wear masks when out in public…
Last week, the Trump administration continued its assault against transgender and non-binary citizens by eliminating anti-discrimination protections granted in the Affordable Care Act. This move opens the way for federally regulated insurance companies and health care providers to deny coverage and services to transgender and non-binary people. The rule, which goes into effect in mid-August, could negatively impact roughly 1.5 million Americans. The Human Rights Campaign, ACLU and Lamba Legal have all vowed to fight the ruling. Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act prohibits…
On June 9, after a multi-day standoff with protesters at the intersection of 11th and Pine in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, the Seattle Police Department abandoned the nearby East Precinct and left the area. This was after almost two weeks of protests over the murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. During peaceful rallies taking place at a police barricade at the intersection, protesters were routinely met with tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets, all initiated by an unprovoked mob…
Like millions of others, I saw the video of George Floyd’s torture and death at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. I was and am horrified, outraged and heartbroken. One particularly chilling element of this heinous murder was Chauvin’s demeanor throughout the almost nine minute video. He was seemingly unconcerned that his actions were being witnessed by many and videotaped for all to see. His manner was eerily calm and suggested that he was operating under a fundamental assumption that as a…
