Tough Girls & Lessons from the Black Panthers

The hits just keep on coming. How’s everybody doing? How are you taking care of yourself and your loved ones? Keep breathing. We’re all in this together. You are absolutely not alone. One evening last week, my daughter, her friend and I went to see a documentary about the history of the Seattle Black Panthers. It was actually a 30 minute clip of a larger and still developing work by filmmaker Rick Dupree, who was at the screening. Elmer Dixon was also in attendance. Elmer and his…

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Imagine Yourself in a Cage Fight with him

It’s been pretty fucking awful. We knew it would be, but the frenetic pace and the depth of depravity has been difficult for even the most battle hardened to fully process. It’s like a blitz in football, a defensive strategy that has multiple defenders at the line of scrimmage, rushing the quarterback at once, creating disruption, chaos and, in some instances, panic. I’m sure the term was appropriated from the German “ blitzkrieg,” which is a military attack that employs the very same technique. The…

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Shit Hits the Fan Survival Plan

Hello friends. It’s been a while, about a year and a half roughly. In late summer of 2023, life took an unexpected turn. Since then, my focus has been on healing, recalibrating and learning a new normal. That story is for another day. For now, I’ll just quote James Taylor’s explicit lyric: “Shower the people you love with love.” Given my circumstances, writing has been put on the back burner, perhaps permanently. However, the madness of our days has inspired me to pick up again.…

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Seahawks: Preseason Greatness

Photo- Kate Kruller Hello and Ahoy, friends! Football is back! It was an active off-season indeed, with the scouting combine, free agency, a super fun draft and a touch of contract suspense. Plenty to keep a fan engaged, I suppose, but not as satisfying as the  regular season. It’s a little bit like sucking on an ice cube when what you really want is to guzzle down a glass of water. But alas, now we are in the preseason, the final approach to the promised…

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Madness

Photo- Jay Raedle (Getty Images) There was another mass shooting in the U.S. this past weekend. It was at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas. Eight innocent people were killed, including children, and multiple more were injured. The shooter also died. You may or may not have heard about it. The news was sandwiched between stories on that silly coronation in London and coverage of the NBA playoffs. It was a mere blip on the news cycle.  I took a quick peek at Twitter the…

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Gratuitous Cruelty

Photo by Armando Franca, AP Gratuitous cruelty. That’s how my friend Barb characterizes the profusion of anti-trans bills that are surging across the country. I call it legislative terrorism. While both are fitting, I believe Barb’s language is slightly more apropos. Gratuitous cruelty is at the core of all these horrific measures. Legislative harassment of transgender and nonbinary people is nothing new. However, the present proliferation is unprecedented. There are currently 422 active anti-trans bills across forty-four states. So far, twenty-six have already passed. While…

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Seattle Seahawks: It’s a Wrap

It’s taken me a few days to get this post written. Whenever the season ends for the Seahawks, whether regular or post, I go into a bit of a slump. It can range anywhere from a mild melancholy to a full-on existential funk. The depth and duration depend on how well the season did or didn’t go. The only exception to this pattern was, of course, 2014, when the Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII. I was out of my mind for weeks after that...but in…

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Playoff Wish List: Seahawks vs 49ers

  The Seahawks are in the playoffs, baby! Oh, what a wonderful thing!  As everyone knows, they’ll be headed down to Levi Stadium to take on division rivals the San Francisco 49ers, one of the hottest teams in the league right now. The San Francisco forecast on Saturday is calling for torrential rains, potential flooding and winds around 20mph, all of this at gametime. It looks to be a muddy, slippery slop fest, making an already challenging game all the more so. From the looks…

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Seahawks vs Rams: All the Feels

Photo- Stephen Brashear, Associated Press   There is so much good news this week! Yesterday, Damar Hamlin was released from the ICU at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and went back to Buffalo. He was admitted to the Buffalo General Medical Center, where he’s undergoing tests. His recovery continues to go remarkably well.  On Sunday, the entire league honored him at each and every game. Damar watched his Bills team beat the Patriots from his hospital room and tweeted to his fans and teammates.…

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My Wish List: Seahawks vs Rams (round 2)

  First things first, Damar Hamlin is showing “remarkable improvement” according to his doctors. He’s breathing on his own. His neurological function appears to be intact. He’s even FaceTimed with his teammates. He still has a ways to go in terms of recovery, but there is much reason for optimism. Exhale. According to reports, he regained consciousness on Thursday. At the time, he was still on a breathing tube and communicated through handwriting. His first question was, “Who won the game?” His doctor answered, “Yes,…

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