Like many of you, I grew up reading Dear Abby. The L.A. Times was my window to the world - Robert Hilburn shaped my musical taste, Conrad my politics, and for everything else - there was Dear Abby.

There is a column that has stuck with me all this time. Just last week, I shared… Read full post »

Tuesday night when the coast was clear, I decided to take a walk through a parallel universe. That is to say, I decided to watch Fox News. One quick click of the remote and I was tumbling like Alice down the rabbit hole, and everything grew curiouser and curiouser.… Read full post »

The only Levon Helm story I have is the ticket I didn't buy to see the Last Waltz - the concert, not the movie.

I was 20 years old, working part-time at an ice-cream shop in Santa Cruz while I went to school. It was a great gig - paid a… Read full post »

 "What is wrong with you people? You’re all so cynical – you don’t smile, you smirk." (Megan in Mad Men Season 5, Episode 2)

Like a lot of people, I loved Mad Men its first few seasons. I was attracted as much by the characters as the novelty of the setting. The… Read full post »

Yesterday, a story was posted here about a woman in Seattle who reportedly miscarried days after being pepper-sprayed and kicked by police. The story was an Editor's Pick and cross-referenced on the front page of Salon. Like a chant echoed by a crowd, the headline was borne aloft throu… Read full post »

Mouth of the Elwha 

We spent the third weekend of September in Port Angeles, helping to celebrate the Elwha dams coming down. The 45-mile long Elwha River once produced all six species of Pacific salmonids, including record-setting Chinook salmon.

The return of the river to… Read full post »

Best Costume Design. Really, Academy? That’s it? As a good online friend would say, Pffft.

The most overlooked movie of the year, by far, is Bright Star. From the opening shot—an extreme closeup of a needle pulling through fabric—you know you are in the hands of a ci/… Read full post »

 The very first OS friend I met in person was Freaky Troll, who was kind enough to bring along The Woman Who Carries The Purse. We met at a local bakery whose award-winning chef has put our little burg  of West Seattle on the culinary map. Of *course* we had cake.… Read full post »

This time of year, when I am not reading OS, or noticing how much earlier the sun is setting (already!), one of my favorite things to do is listen for whales at www.orca-live.net.

Most of the time, what you hear are the ambient noises of Johnstone Strait: lapping waves,… Read full post »

Calling All Northwesterners (including you too, Canadians!)

What: Anniversary Party to Celebrate the First Year of Open Salon

When: Thursday April 16, 6 p.m.-  8 (or whenever)

Seeing the stories on the cover of Open Salon today reminded me of my own little adventure at the Playboy mansion. Don’t get too excited, it wasn’t like that.

It was 1973, and I was a junior in high school. Two friends and I were on our way from the… Read full post »

It's not the practice that grates, but what we are calling it. 

You know I love this place.  And I really don't mind getting notices of the new things you've written, or pointers to things you think I'd like to read. In fact, I like it, because I'd miss a lot… Read full post »

Nah, not that kind....

I'm going to Baja for 11 days and I won't be bringing a laptop. You know what that means...no OS! No comments, no posts, no Freaky, no squirrel...what am I gonna do!!

Oh, that's right. I'm going to be on a boat in the Sea of Cortez… Read full post »

 1. I have spent the night on a schooner drifting among humpback whales in Alaska, their blows echoing across  Frederick Sound.

2. The northern lights are one of the most awe-inspiring, naturally psychedelic things I have ever seen. Great bursts of color draped across the sky… Read full post »

It’s snowing in Seattle! The weather people have been predicting it for days, and this time, they got it right. It’s a light snow, for now, but it is sticking, and the world has been transformed.

Snow always makes me giddy. Maybe it’s a result of growing up in… Read full post »

 (Most Read, Saturday 11/22, 1:30 PST)

I may have found my genre.... Read full post »

While everyone was scurrying around posting their avatars for the OS collage, this was the Top Rated list at around 8:30 tonight:

 

I thought it was really funny... I only wish it was 101 words ;) I'm trying to think of a good title... Read full post »

With its high ceilings and velvet couch, it does not feel like a glasses store. She picks out a black pair with crystals on the stems. “Ooh - so You!”

I am not sure.

She pulls another pair, titanium from Japan.

“Also hip!” the sales chorus sings.… Read full post »

Joining the song meme party. Thanks for the invitation, umbrellakinesis!

Who are you?
Words are flying out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe…
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million
suns it calls me on and… Read full post »

…is over."

I looked up this quote today while commenting on DogWoman’s blog because I couldn’t remember who said it. I was a little surprised to find that it was Gerald Ford, as part of his inauguration speech. Or more accurately, the remarks he gave after being sworn in as p… Read full post »

I’ve been having a rough couple of days. There are a lot of things I am supposed to be working on, but somehow I couldn’t get myself to move on any of them. And the longer it goes like that, the worse it gets. Like a hoar frost spreading into… Read full post »

The first major gusts of the season tore through here last week, shutting down power and scattering trees, as if announcing the change. My thoughts turn again to Jesse, because this is the month in which he died.

Steven J. Bernstein, aka Jesse, was a writer, an ex-junkie, and… Read full post »