July Story of the Week

July's Story of the Week is an excerpt from the book I'm working on. It takes place on a flight from Seattle to Europe, and Louie, Our Heroine, finds herself in the middle of an evil alien plot to take over the world. Reluctantly, she tries to help save humankind, mostly as a side effect … Continue reading July Story of the Week

The Maldives of summer

This is the worst concert review you’ll ever read.  The band is the Maldives (pronounced Mall-deeves), introduced by a guy in the crowd as “the best band in Ballard.” Ballard being a Seattle neighborhood of about forty thousand people and more taverns per square mile than any other Seattle neighborhood, that’s saying something.  I’d heard … Continue reading The Maldives of summer

Leaping (and crawling) toward independence

Each year on July 4, I try to celebrate  independence from something for the day. Past years have included independence from judging other people, from being afraid, and from sweets. (Don't ask. Didn't really work that well.) This year, I wasn't sure until this morning what it would be. Celebrating independence from work seemed both … Continue reading Leaping (and crawling) toward independence

And we’re off…

I am, anyway. Off work, on vacation for eight weeks. It's already halfway through the first week and I can tell it will all pass in a blink. Whatever happens the next seven and a half weeks, I will be forever grateful to my brother and his friend for the private concert Sunday night, the … Continue reading And we’re off…

Billy Moon

Remember that name. Billy Moon. Last night I went to a collegiate summer league baseball game, West Coast League. The Wenatchee AppleSox at home vs. the Portland Stars. I showed up at the middle of the third inning, and the score was already 4-1 in favor of the home Sox. I got the last available … Continue reading Billy Moon

Shinny

June's Story of the Week was called Shinny. Shinny is the name Canadians - and some eastern Washingtonians, I've since learned - give to pick-up hockey. Shinny It was super cold that day, but Will decided to cut school to go play shinny on the skating pond anyway. The ice’d be good and hard and … Continue reading Shinny

Cabbage, 1934

This is a piece I wrote at a Hugo House class this spring, taught by Cathy Kirkwood, called "Writing the Other." Cabbage, 1934 She stands in her kitchen, near the refrigerator, as far from the sink full of dirty dishes as she can get. It does not help that there is a small window above … Continue reading Cabbage, 1934

The outer limits of failure

There’s a lot in the press these days about Ken Griffey Junior waiting too long to retire. Should he have bowed out at the end of last year, after his teammates carried him off the field in the happiest celebration of a third-place finish in a four-team division in baseball history. Should he have called it … Continue reading The outer limits of failure

One month from today…

One month from today, I'll start eight weeks of "vacation," and then return to work half-time. This is it: the great experiment. Investing time and money in writing like I never could while working full-time. I haven't had this much time off since I was 14 years old. July will be devoted to writing classes, … Continue reading One month from today…

Faith, hope, and charity

This was the kind of bar she never went into, never looked at twice. A dive bar, and not a cool dive bar for yuppies who wanted to trick themselves into believing they were slumming by drinking their microbrews in a place with walls covered in graffiti and waitresses covered with multiple piercings. No, this was a real dive bar – graffiti and piercings, sure, but not a microbrew within hailing distance. Cheap beer, cheap whiskey, and the chance to buy bad cocaine if you had the cash and the courage. Loud music, mostly country. Big guys wearing faded t-shirts with ripped off sleeves under denim vests covered in Harley patches, tattoos twitching on their beefy arms. Women in spike-heeled black boots whose curves overflowed their tight jeans and whose hair showed the effects of too many bad perms.