I razored the Seahawks sticker off my car
It’s my protest against Seahawks owner Paul Allen giving $100,000 to a fund for keeping Republicans in control of the House of Representatives. This wasn’t a contribution to influence some principled, individual Republicans–it was a contribution to keep the stinky status quo. Maybe taking off the sticker was a dumb thing to do. I still …
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How It All Began
In the beginning, there wasn’t, but there wanted to be. Every flavor of leopard wanted to be. Even the lazy, who only wanted to be rocks or electrons, wanted throbbingly to be. Each grain of sand filed a separate application; possible dolphins sent impressive resumés. Waves of want sloshed the darkness. Darkness striking darkness made …
Either TV’s are getting too smart, or my low self-esteem has reached toxic levels
I was cleaning house for a cultured client, with top-notch taste in music and art, who had the Music Choice classical channel on the TV. (It not only says something for Music Choice that he approved of their “hand-picked, no algorithms” playlist, but also for the endless onslaught of digital convenience, that he’s surrendered to …
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Boring Old People
It was the first run of the day, a yellow 2 out of lower Lynwood, right off the freeway, starting at 4am. The first stop was a nice couple, probably early 70’s, we’ll call them Henry and Mabel. The other was a single, “Lauren”, several blocks away, maybe a bit past 60. Being locals, they …
Sestina for Hope Solo
I wrote this poem when I was taking a class in poetic forms from Carolyn Wright. This is a sestina, a 12th century form that uses six-line stanzas, with six pre-chosen words to end each line. The line-ending words change position in a specific order in each stanza; after six 6-line stanzas, there’s a final …
The Chirping War of 1776
The fourth of July is not my favorite holiday. I grew up with fireworks, I’ve been to public displays, and no one has ever talked about the ideals of the country, or read from the founding documents. The Fourth of July, as celebrated, seems pornographic: explosion for its own sake, disconnected from the idea or …
Whale Shark
Call him Whale Shark. But first, let’s talk about her. She was nerdy-stunning, early 30’s, with dark pinned-up hair and black glasses, clear pale complexion, and a low musical voice from ye faire isle of Britian. First stop of a yellow 2 out of Ballard, about 7:30 in the morning, yet she was as sleepy-eyed …
Securing a Deck Post with Big Ass Bolt
“Howdy folks,” part of me wants to say. “Today we’re gonna talk deck posts, so giddyup lil’ saw horse, yuppie-mai-tai-o-kay.” Something about Home Improvement begs for a grizzled, gruff-but-kind, suspender-wearing sage. And something in me rebels. Maybe I’ll use an upper-class British voice: “In addressing issues with veranda fenders, it is critical that one first …
If You’re Not Obsessed, You’re Not Alive
We have a dog in our lives now, Harvey, our housemate’s pet. He’s a tall black mix of bird dog, probably Irish setter, and border collie. (Happily, he got the border collie smarts and the setter’s graceful athleticism. One is reminded of the [apocryphal] story of G. B. Shaw’s reply when a beautiful woman said, …
Jacqui Naylor at Frankie’s, Vancouver BC 6.17.17
Tess and I are both fans of jazz singer Jacqui Naylor, so when we were planning a trip to Vancouver, we picked the weekend she was playing there. To say she’s a jazz singer doesn’t capture everything she does, though: she also writes original tunes that are sort of folk-rock, and with her musical and …
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