Mar 1, 2012

Remember when people were sincere? Chances are, if you are under 30, your answer to this question is “No. No I don’t”. Frankly, it’s become a distant memory for yours truly. I grew up in what is arguably the last era of sincerity. Dischord, DIY, and an ethic that valued authenticity over monetary reward. My, how times have...

Feb 29, 2012

Just before a vote on the downtown tunnel was taken, I informed everyone that the tunnel was a terrible idea. I informed everyone that, instead of alleviating downtown traffic, the tunnel would result in far worse traffic. Mere days after I laid out my arguments, however, the multi-billion dollar tunnel was approved by a voter margin of 60% to...

Feb 26, 2012

On Friday night, I fell asleep with the TV on. Early Saturday morning, while still in twilight sleep, I heard a news story being repeated over and over from the talking picture box that I had left running. I must have heard the same piece three or four times in the course of an hour. Figuring that I was missing out on something very, very important, I finally...

Feb 22, 2012

I’m a creature of intermittent habits. Once I get into a routine that works for me, I tend to stick with it until it either becomes a hassle, or until something better comes along. Take, for instance, lunch. For most of February, I’ve been getting two slices of pepperoni pizza from Pagliacci daily. For the most part, they have pretty decent pizza,...

Feb 14, 2012

Lost your job, can’t find another one, you can’t see a doctor and your home is being taken away? Well, fear not, my friend, for after months of lobbying, the governor of the great state of Washington has just selflessly made herself a media darling by signing a bill that will … change the definition of “domestic partners” to that of...

Feb 5, 2012

Two weeks ago, the Seattle Weekly ran an article which I thought was possibly their best piece … ever. It’s called ‘Ripped Apart’, and you can read it here: http://www.seattleweekly.com/2012-01-18/news/ripped-apart/ Not long after that article was written, today, Josh Powell, a man denied custody of his two children, a man who clearly...

Feb 3, 2012

Well, my friends, the posebag bloggers and their tragically hip followers are out in full force this week. I mean, look at them go. See all the anger? See all the rage? It certainly looks real, doesn’t it? You buying any of it? Some years ago, I had a quite popular website. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. I had my share of traffic, my...

Feb 2, 2012

You know, they all come around eventually. The renowned breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure faced an escalating backlash Thursday over its decision to cut breast screening grants to Planned Parenthood. Some of Komen’s local affiliates are openly upset, including all seven in California, and at least one top official has quit, reportedly in...

Feb 1, 2012

My opinion of the Better Business Bureau has never been very high. I am not alone in this assessment: Some people swear by the BBB, though, and having never used it, I decided to give it a shot … just this once. After all, it’s important to always act in good-faith. To exhaust all reasonable options before resorting to a lawsuit. And so, I did. ...

Jan 2, 2012

In the last five years, I’ve gone to court twice. Both times I was the plaintiff, both times I represented myself, both times the company I sued was represented by an attorney, and both times I won. It wasn’t easy, though. In fact, the last suit took 18 months from beginning to end, and it cost me thousands of dollars in fees (which the defendant...

Dec 29, 2011

So, I just got finished paying my Sprint bill online, and on the final page, I watched as the company admonished me to “go paperless” in order to “reduce clutter and help the environment”. I was heartened. It was very considerate of Sprint. I had no idea they were so concerned about my tidiness or the state of our local forests. After...

Dec 25, 2011

For as long as I can remember, my favorite TV shows have been in two genres: 1) Infomercials 2) Televangelism To me, these are the television equivalent of train wrecks. They are deeply troubling, and I know it is so very, very wrong to stare at them, but I just can’t help it. In addition to these programs, in the last few years, I have found yet another...

Dec 23, 2011

The weight of the average American is now 185lbs, which means that I now weigh nearly ten pounds less than the majority of you. Here’s the thing, though … I’m six three. I am in the top 4 percentile in height, yet, somehow, someway, I am in the bottom 50% in weight. That, my friends, is bizarre. It’s not like I don’t eat, either. ...

Dec 21, 2011

Every day I wake up and weep. When the clock strikes 6am, I walk into the bathroom, turn on the light, look in the mirror, and shake my fist at the heavens above. “Why oh why?”, I yell, “was I not born a suburban white girl?!” Ah, suburban white girls. The most pampered and privileged creatures on the face of the earth. Winners of the...

Dec 14, 2011

Today, Lowell Elementary School was thrown into lockdown mode as police cars descended on the area — all while a helicopter hovered overhead. Why? Because a very bad man was spotted on school grounds. Read all about it on the Capitol Hill Blog: http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2011/12/14/manhunt-locks-down-area-around-lowell-elementary As a parent, and...

Dec 11, 2011

“License bicyclists!”, they scream on local news sites in a desperate attempt to divert attention from the real problem. The problem which is: The slaughter of our people at the hands of automobile drivers. Last week, a Kirkland bicyclist was killed at the hands of an intoxicated driver. Read the comment section of that article for absolute proof...

Dec 7, 2011

The world is a depressing place these days. Actually, it always has been, but these days especially, the delusion that is the ©American Dream has really lost its potency as an opiate for yours truly. Nowhere have the harsh realities of 21st century America become more evident than in the realm of what we now call “law enforcement”. As a child growing up in...

Nov 9, 2011

Unbelievable. Just … unbelievable. Right now, Corky from Life Goes On is sitting in a room somewhere, watching the election results, shaking his head, saying “wow, the voters of Washington sure are dumb!” After saying “no” one year ago … just one short year ago, the voters of Washington have inexplicably approved nearly the...

Nov 6, 2011

To my oft-posed query – “Why do 100% of news bobbleheads jizz their pants on queue at the mere suggestion of sunshine?” I received an email today which claims to answer just such a question: “Good news, it’s going to be sunny!” “Good news, it’s going to be sunny!” “Good news, it’s going to be...

Nov 3, 2011

Why is this: Better than this?: I don’t know. I only know that it is. Lisa Van Cise, M.J. McDermott, Paul Deano, and every other Seattle meteorologist told us so, and they would never lie to us. As a matter of fact, I was watching the weather forecast this past weekend, and Lisa Van Cise told us that it would be dry, except for a few pockets of “pesky...

Oct 19, 2011

It looks like Occupy Seattle is all but over. At least as far as Westlake Park is concerned. I went by Westlake Park today and the cops outnumbered the protesters. There were maybe a couple dozen people still standing around with signs and about 40 cops making sure those numbers did not grow. I hate to say it, but victory is theirs. The corporations, the...

Sep 19, 2011

It’s been a rough summer for bicyclists. We’ve had three high-profile deaths over the last few months, and a few which have received a lessor amount of coverage. In each of these cases, newspaper and TV comment sections have lit up with people blaming the bicyclists for their own deaths. “We’re not getting the real story, I’m sure it was the...

Sep 11, 2011

Today, I headed over to the Seattle Center International Fountain, and when I got there, I was horrified by what I found. Since it was 85 degrees outside, there were young bathing-suit-clad children frolicking in the fountain, and everywhere I looked, there were people with cameras. Some people had cellphone cameras, others had consumer-grade handheld...

Sep 8, 2011

I hate to do it. I really do. Something about banning an entire nation because of a few thousand bad eggs seems a bit draconian, and maybe even xenophobic, but at this point, I’ve been left with no other alternative. This morning, after receiving a call from my web person, I found that our server was responding painfully slowly. Figuring that the masses...

Sep 6, 2011

Today, I was notified that I will be unceremoniously banned from Google+. My page will exist until September 9th, and I will be able to make further posts, but in three days, all of my data will be deleted and I will be locked out. Why? Was it because I posted a profanity-laden diatribe about some petty injustice? Surprisingly, no. Was it because I posted a...